The musical polymath offers ideas on everything from Russian satellites and hip-hop, to Bach and football, and how they shape the musical education of America.
Maverick jazz composer Anthony Braxton was set to spend his 75th birthday performing at events around the world, but then... well, you know. He has two new boxed sets out this month.
For the final entry in Morning Edition's Song Project series, Vijay Iyer wrote a rhizomatic, inviting — and not entirely placating — instrumental piece to encapsulate his past year.
For most artists, 2020 was a year of forced isolation and few opportunities. But Dan Tepfer, a jazz pianist and composer, had a busy year, partly thanks to his technological acumen.
"Time Traveler," Nnenna Freelon's first new album in more than a decade, is a passionate expression of love enduring as she grieves the loss of her husband and other family members.
The Erroll Garner Jazz Project is collaborating on a deep, retrospective reissue of the composer and piano prodigy's live work, marking his 100th birthday in September.
After cutting his teeth in Detroit, a move to New York near the middle of the century found him directly in the center of a deeply important moment for jazz.
The self-described "athletically creative" bassist, vocalist and composer searches for origins and originality while writing an opera with jazz giant Wayne Shorter.
April 30 will bring the International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert, with artists from across the world taking part in another digital edition of the show, in addition to several other events.
The musician spent a decade homeless in San Francisco before making records, but left a much longer legacy by bringing his knowledge of bebop and blues, and an innate soulfulness into jazz music.
NPR speaks with Angel Bat Dawid about capturing emotion in sound, Chicago's influence on her music and the artist she's most grateful for: George Clinton.
Best known for his work on Hancock's blockbuster 1973 album Head Hunters, Paul Jackson was a bassist who found his musical identity between jazz and funk.