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Jazz Night In America: The Playlist

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

October 11, 2019 • A modern jazz survey at ground level, from stone classics to state-of-the-art jams.

Tim Saccenti/Courtesy of the artist

The Fire This Time: Flying Lotus Seeks Rebirth After Mac Miller's Death

October 9, 2019 • One inspiration behind Flamagra, the sixth album by the L.A. musician, was the wildfires in his hometown. It became another opportunity for the musician to reckon with ideas of death and rebirth.

Jane Bunnett: Cuban Music's Canadian Connection

Musician Jane Bunnett, seated second from right, and her band Maqueque. Lauren Deutsch/Courtesy of the Artist hide caption

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Lauren Deutsch/Courtesy of the Artist

Jane Bunnett: Cuban Music's Canadian Connection

September 27, 2019 • The saxophonist, flautist and bandleader has been traveling to Cuba and performing its music for over 30 years.

Jane Bunnett: Cuban Music's Canadian Connection

28:59

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Miles Davis' Illustrations Drive A Classic Recording In New Video For 'Moon Dreams'

Miles Davis, onstage in West Germany in 1959. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Miles Davis' Illustrations Drive A Classic Recording In New Video For 'Moon Dreams'

WBGO

September 27, 2019 • The video, part of a series in which pre-MTV artists retroactively join the video age, brings Davis' late-life visual art in dialogue with a classic piece of his music.

Catherine Russell on Mountain Stage. Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage/West Virginia Public Broadcasting hide caption

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Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Catherine Russell On Mountain Stage

West Virginia Public Broadcasting

September 26, 2019 • Making her fifth appearance on Mountain Stage since 2006, Grammy-winning vocalist Catherine Russell treated the audience to songs off her latest album, Alone Together.

Catherine Russell On Mountain Stage

28:42

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Gregory Porter: Personal Stories For Universal Songs

Gregory Porter Jonathan Chimene/Courtesy of Jazz At Lincoln Center hide caption

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Jonathan Chimene/Courtesy of Jazz At Lincoln Center

Gregory Porter: Personal Stories For Universal Songs

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

September 20, 2019 • Host Christian McBride chats with singer-songwriter Gregory Porter about his journey as an ascendent talent.

Gregory Porter: Personal Stories For Universal Songs

58:00

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Constructing Jazz Inside Fine Art, And Vice-Versa

Jason Moran, Slugs' Saloon, 2018. Farzad Owrang/Courtesy of Jason Moran and Luhring Augustine hide caption

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Farzad Owrang/Courtesy of Jason Moran and Luhring Augustine

Constructing Jazz Inside Fine Art, And Vice-Versa

September 19, 2019 • The jazz pianist has pulled the curtain off his polymathic abilities, bringing his fine art exhibition — which includes video, installations and performance — home to New York.

A Toast To The Montreal International Jazz Festival At 40: Jazz, Blues & Much More

Aerial view of the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. © Victor Diaz Lamich/Courtesy of Festival International de Jazz de Montreal hide caption

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A Toast To The Montreal International Jazz Festival At 40: Jazz, Blues & Much More

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

September 12, 2019 • We celebrate 40 years of The Montreal International Jazz Festival with iconic performances and unique stories including Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, Oscar Peterson and Pat Metheny.

A Toast To The Montreal International Jazz Festival At 40: Jazz, Blues & Much More

59:43

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Review

Singer/Composer Jazzmeia Horn Is A Double Threat On 'Love & Liberation'

Fresh Air

September 10, 2019 • Horn pulls together her sundry influences — including jazz, pop, gospel and vintage Broadway — on her second album. The resulting tunes are so good, other singers are sure to try them on.

Singer/Composer Jazzmeia Horn Is A Double Threat On 'Love & Liberation'

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Not All 'Lost' Jazz Albums Are Created Equal

John Coltrane performs with drummer Elvin Jones and saxophonist Eric Dolphy in 1961. Impulse! Records is set to release the "lost" Coltrane album Blue World on Sept. 27. Bill Wagg/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

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Bill Wagg/Redferns/Getty Images

Music News

Not All 'Lost' Jazz Albums Are Created Equal

September 10, 2019 • NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Nate Chinen of member station WBGO and Jazz Night in America about three rediscovered jazz albums from Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Stan Getz.

Not All 'Lost' Jazz Albums Are Created Equal

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Looking Back On 'Bitches Brew': The Year Miles Davis Plugged Jazz In

Miles Davis performing at Newport Jazz Festival in 1969. David Redfern/Redferns hide caption

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David Redfern/Redferns

Music Interviews

Looking Back On 'Bitches Brew': The Year Miles Davis Plugged Jazz In

August 21, 2019 • NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Christian McBride about the impact of Miles Davis' seminal album Bitches Brew — an electrified sound that ushered in decades of jazz fusion 50 years ago.

Looking Back On 'Bitches Brew': The Year Miles Davis Plugged Jazz In

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Miles and Betty Davis in color in Miles' New York westside brownstone, 1969 Baron Wolman hide caption

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Baron Wolman

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Electric Miles: Behind The 'Brew'

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

August 15, 2019 • We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis going electric for Bitches Brew — part controversial, part revolutionary and as a whole, historic.

Electric Miles: Behind The 'Brew'

56:43

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Sons of Kemet perform at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn. Annabel Edwards/NPR hide caption

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Annabel Edwards/NPR

Jazz Night In America: Video Episodes And Shorts

Watch U.K. Jazz Group Sons Of Kemet Deliver An Explosive Midnight Set

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

July 30, 2019 • The London, U.K. band Sons of Kemet brought its carnival rhythm, club abandon and jazz improv to a midnight show at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tenn.

'The Black Messiah' And The Legacy Of Cannonball Adderley

Cannonball Adderley sits with his saxophone. JP Jazz Archive/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

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JP Jazz Archive/Redferns/Getty Images

Jazz Night In America

'The Black Messiah' And The Legacy Of Cannonball Adderley

WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

July 26, 2019 • Julian "Cannonball" Adderley left a monumental legacy during his two decades in the spotlight. Revisit his music with old bandmates and Patrick Bartley Jr.'s young New York band.

'The Black Messiah' And The Legacy Of Cannonball Adderley

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Masego plays a Tiny Desk Concert on Jan. 8, 2019 (Claire Harbage/NPR). Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

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Claire Harbage/NPR

Tiny Desk

Masego: Tiny Desk Concert

July 24, 2019 • The spirit of Cab Calloway lives on in Masego, the singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who surprised NPR's Tiny Desk audience with a zany sense of showmanship.