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Renee Klahr/Think of the best songs of 2021 as a playlist catering to the most basic human urges. Within it, booties were called, muffins were buttered and bloody revenge was contemplated. It was quite a year. -
Renee Klahr/Think of the best songs of 2021 as a playlist catering to the most basic human urges. Within it, booties were called, muffins were buttered and bloody revenge was contemplated. It was quite a year.
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Pianist Hod O'Brien is a stalwart bebop acolyte. Since emerging on the scene in the late 1950s playing with Oscar Pettiford and Stan Getz, O'Brien has earned critical acclaim and accolades from his peers. He joins host Marian McPartland and performs an original tune written for the occasion, "Clarion for Marian." -
Saxophonist and bandleader Paul Winter has created his own unique style of environmentally conscious music. The natural world is not only an inspiration, but it has also been a collaborator in his music. Winter talks about playing with humpback whales, as well as his legendary recording expeditions to the Grand Canyon.
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Jazz pianist and vocalist Diana Krall has long found favor with traditional jazz enthusiasts and mainstream pop fans alike. Before her star had risen, she recorded this interview and performance.
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In an archival show from 1990, Piano Jazz celebrates the centennial of Stephane Grappelli, one of the jazz world's greatest violinists. Grappelli first found fame in France with Django Reinhart's Quintette du Hot Club. He went on to an illustrious career playing with everyone from Oscar Peterson to Paul Simon to Yo-Yo Ma.
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Singer, pianist, and composer Elizabeth Doyle is one of Chicago's most captivating performers. She blends a dreamy vocal style with swinging piano work, deftly accompanying herself on both classic standards and her own compositions.
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A true legend of public radio and a longtime friend of host Marian McPartland, Studs Terkel appeared on Piano Jazz in 1992 for a special fundraising edition. The two quizzed each other about radio, shared memories of jazz personalities and improvised music and conversation.
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Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Extended Family (Tapestry), the CD of a quartet led by tenor saxophonist Fred Hess.
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Rock historian Ed Ward profiles blues singer Wynonie Harris who recorded between 1945 and 1952.
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Jazz percussionist Mongo Santamaria dies on Feb. 1 at 85. Santamaria scored a Top-10 hit with his version of Herbie Hancock's jazz-funk classic "Watermelon Man" in 1963. He also wrote the song "Afro Blue," later performed and made famous by John Coltrane. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has a remembrance.
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Howard Mandel has the story on a series of long-awaited reunion concerts by two acclaimed jazz musicians. Saxophonist John Surman and pianist Jack DeJohnette first met in the late 1960s. More than three decades later, they reunited — and some of the new performances have just been released on CD.
