Latest Jazz from NPR Music

Marian McPartland and her guests from seasons past, present and future share favorite memories and unique musical performances of Christmas classics and original holiday tunes.

The Big Phat Band makes its Monterey Jazz Festival debut with "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Hunting Wabbits," inspired by Carl Stalling's 1940s scores for Warner Brothers cartoons.

We asked 137 jazz journalists to pick their favorite albums that came out this year. Out of over 700 nominees, here are their collective top 50 picks, along with top finishers in the Latin jazz, vocal, debut and reissue categories.

NPR's Melissa Block talks with music critic Tom Moon about three recently released live recordings, all from around 1970, that each capture an artist at a distinct point of change in his career.

Italian pianist Stefano Bollani stretches the limits of imagination with improvisations ranging from quirky to transcendent. Virtuoso technique and a keen harmonic sense bolster Bollani's improvisations, which are influenced as much by Charlie Parker as Prokofiev and Zappa.

The guitarist, composer and arranger died in his sleep Tuesday at 83. Hall was known for a subtle, lyrical playing style, a gift for innovation and collaborations with a host of talented musicians in a career that stretched more than seven decades. Hear an interview from 1989.

Every year, NPR Music invites some of the world's best jazz keyboard players to Washington, D.C., for a special performance of holiday tunes. Hear Stanley Cowell, Sullivan Fortner, and others perform.

The vocalist mixes funk with electric soul in a live tribute to Jimi Hendrix and James Brown in Chicago. As she launches into the James Brown half of the show, she encourages the crowd to dance.

Hear public radio stations' favorite songs of the year — from jazz to indie rock to cutting-edge classical.

"This is it," Webb said of Fitzgerald. "I have a real singer now. That's what the public wants."