Patrick Jarenwattananon

Known for experimentation, The Bad Plus' drummer performs conventional modern jazz on the side. With two underground rhythm-section guys, he travels to one of New York City's most prestigious clubs.

The late South African vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin is remembered as her country's greatest jazz singer, who brought deliberation and questions of identity to her music. But she only launched her own career, from the shadow of her famous husband Abdullah Ibrahim, after several false starts.

The drummer is 84 — he's been around the jazz scene for a while. He was the drummer on Miles Davis' late-'50s and early-'60s masterpieces. These days, he's still touring the world and leading bands.

The bluesy, commanding improviser rose to eminence in the '50s and '60s with bands like Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, where he played a starring role and established himself as a deft small-group composer. Walton continued to perform and record his entire life.

Few musicians today are as versatile as the bassist, keyboardist, bass clarinetist, film composer, producer ... you get the picture. Miller was also veteran of Miles Davis' last band.

Donny McCaslin is an imposingly tall fellow and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet — and who wields a sax like few others. The audience didn't know what hit 'em in this live morning performance.

2013 marked three dozen years since the first incarnation of the group coalesced to resurrect a then-disappearing tradition — and infuse it both bebop and funk. Hear their danceable Newport set.

A 20-something singing pianist of the New Orleans tradition, Batiste has an entertainer's charisma and chops to match. He met his band at Juilliard — and does "modern jazz" with a metropolitan flair.

One of the finest guitarists in jazz history — who made classic records with Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Ron Carter and so on — is still at it at age 82. Hear him perform with a younger guitar phenom.

Among the most influential jazz composers ever, the saxophonist turns 80 this year. He returns to Newport to celebrate, and his old friend Herbie Hancock also swung through to mark the occasion.