Jazz : NPR

Patrick Shiroishi, 'To Kill A Wind-Up Bird' Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Patrick Shiroishi, 'To Kill A Wind-Up Bird'

September 17, 2021 • "To Kill A Wind-Up Bird," off of multi-instrumentalist and composer Patrick Shiroishi's upcoming solo album Hidemi, layers saxophone and woodwinds in a frantic, yet controlled splatter.

George Wein, Music Festival Pioneer, Dies At 95

George Wein, backstage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in May 2012. Rick Diamond/Getty Images hide caption

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Rick Diamond/Getty Images

George Wein, Music Festival Pioneer, Dies At 95

September 13, 2021 • A founder of the Newport Folk Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — and perhaps the most important jazz impresario of all time — died Monday.

Phil Schaap, Iconic Jazz DJ And NEA Jazz Master, Dies At 70

Phil Schaap attends the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 4, 2013 in New York. Brad Barket/Getty Images hide caption

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Brad Barket/Getty Images

Phil Schaap, Iconic Jazz DJ And NEA Jazz Master, Dies At 70

September 8, 2021 • Schaap was one of the leading jazz scholars in America and the genre's foremost evangelist. He died at 70, after a long battle with cancer.

Courtesy of the artist

Makaya McCraven, 'Frank's Tune (AKA De'Jeff's Tune)'

North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC

September 2, 2021 • With help from guitarist Jeff Parker and flutist De'Sean Jones, Chicago-based drummer and producer Makaya McCraven modernizes a song from Jack Wilson's album Easterly Winds.

I Played Jazz With Charlie Watts For 20 Years. Here's What I Learned

Charlie Watts onstage with Tim Ries' jazz tribute act, The Rolling Stones Project, at a London venue in 2013. Richard Kerris hide caption

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Richard Kerris

I Played Jazz With Charlie Watts For 20 Years. Here's What I Learned

September 2, 2021 • A longtime touring member of The Rolling Stones, Tim Ries says his favorite nights were the ones without a show — when he and Watts would sneak into town to play the music they loved most.

Your Music Saved My Life: Ledisi Talks With Lara Downes

Lara Downes talks with Ledisi. NPR hide caption

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NPR

Your Music Saved My Life: Ledisi Talks With Lara Downes

KDFC and KUSC

August 28, 2021 • The versatile and impassioned singer was ready to throw in the towel until she heard a message in a Nina Simone song that told her, "You're going be fine. I understand how you feel. Keep going."

Courtesy of the artist

Lady Blackbird, 'It's Not That Easy'

North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC

August 26, 2021 • Equal parts torch song and funeral dirge, it's a raw and pining anthem whose heartbreak slowly seeps in as the organ crawls beneath Lady Blackbird's sorrowful vocals.

Courtesy of the artist

Esperanza Spalding, 'Formwela 10'

WBGO

August 26, 2021 • "Formwela 10" is one of Spalding's more enchanting spells: a shape-shifting chamber invention that ponders the question of what we ask of one another in the course of romantic exchange.

John Coltrane's Masterpiece Breathes New Life With 'A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle'

John Coltrane, photographed performing at The Penthouse during a run of performances in Seattle, Wash. in 1965. A recording of one, long lost, is now being released as A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle. Chuck Stewart/Courtesy Universal Music Group hide caption

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Chuck Stewart/Courtesy Universal Music Group

Editors' Picks

John Coltrane's Masterpiece Breathes New Life With 'A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle'

WBGO

August 26, 2021 • John Coltrane rarely performed the music from A Love Supreme after its release at the end of 1964 – meaning even the most ardent Coltrane-ologists have been unaware of the existence of these tapes.

John Coltrane's Masterpiece Breathes New Life With 'A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle'

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A still from Irreversible Entanglements' "Open The Gates" video. YouTube hide caption

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YouTube

#NowPlaying

Irreversible Entanglements, 'Open The Gates'

August 24, 2021 • The tri-city free-jazz band expands and distorts the shape of melody, noise and heart-thumping rhythm.

Courtesy of the artist

#NowPlaying

säje, 'Wisteria'

Jefferson Public Radio

August 18, 2021 • The four-voiced juggernaut explores the edges of jazz and pop. "Wisteria" is a love letter of sorts for the vocal ensemble and what it represents.

Courtesy of the artist

#NowPlaying

Joshua Redman, 'Facts'

WBGO

August 12, 2021 • Redman's angular melody entwines with a countermelody by Ron Miles on cornet, as bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade percolate the groove.

Portland's Montavilla Jazz Brings Music To Your Front Door

Trumpeter Charlie Porter and bassist John Lakey perform in May 2021. Aaron Hayman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Aaron Hayman/Courtesy of the artist

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Portland's Montavilla Jazz Brings Music To Your Front Door

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

August 5, 2021 • Jazz Night visits Portland to ride along with the non-profit Montavilla Jazz and its door-to-door music festival, including a lovely set by trumpeter Charlie Porter.

Portland's Montavilla Jazz Brings Music To Your Front Door

55:37

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Courtesy of the artist

#NowPlaying

Freakquencee, 'Running'

August 5, 2021 • This #NowPlaying discovery of Freakquencee comes to us from this year's Tiny Desk Contest.

On The Road Again: Musicians Return To The Stage At Exit Zero

Matthew Whitaker, Gabrielle Cassava and Pedrito Martinez perform at the Exit Zero Jazz Festival. Richard Conde/Mitra I. Arthur/NPR hide caption

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Richard Conde/Mitra I. Arthur/NPR

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

On The Road Again: Musicians Return To The Stage At Exit Zero

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

July 30, 2021 • We take you to the Exit Zero Jazz Festival with three sets from: piano prodigy Matthew Whitaker; New Orleans vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa, and master conguero Pedrito Martinez.

On The Road Again: Musicians Return To The Stage At Exit Zero

56:54

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