Patrick Jarenwattananon

After releasing his fourth album earlier this year, the alto saxophonist premieres a new set of compositions: a suite for jazz octet inspired by A.A. Milne's poetry for children.

One of the world's great percussionists leads a band driven by decades-long friendships, emotionally resonant anthems and flying drumsticks.

Here, the three jazz sidemen come together as a trio. Their format isn't earth-shatteringly new, but after nearly 25 years as a band, their rapport is. Listen to a live concert.

The jazz vibraphone pioneer played with Stan Getz and Chick Corea, was an early adopter of jazz fusion, and became the Dean of Berklee College of Music.

He had gigs before and enjoyed prominent freelance work afterward. But the mellow saxophone and flute player's career was kickstarted by spending more than a decade in the front row of Count Basie's "New Testament" band.

Chicago bassist Matt Ulery writes beautiful music in an unpretentious way. It's intricate stuff, with interlocking parts and multiple sections, but it comes out sounding folky and simple. His small group, featuring bass clarinet and accordion, has it down pat.

After releasing his latest album, last year's Spirit Fiction, the saxophonist put his decade-old quartet on hiatus. He now takes a new group into a venue haunted by the ghosts of his parents.

When Brandon Bain started singing in New York jazz clubs, he knew he wanted to capture the scene on video. Against 10,000-to-1 odds, he found the means to do it. His web series Capsulocity now features impromptu performances of top young talent generating a bit of unscripted fun.

The 24-year-old tenor sax player is the first female instrumentalist to take home the annual prize for young musicians.

The annual jazz competition for young musicians, which featured saxophonists in 2013, was a bit predictable — at least in the semifinal round. But given the particular displays of talent on stage, is that necessarily a bad thing?