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Fresh Air's jazz critic reviews two new CD reissues showcasing great jazz pianists: We Three, featuring the Tennessee-born pianist Phineas Newborn, and Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Both were recorded in the fall of 1958.

In a mid-'50s jazz landscape increasingly dominated by bebop's aftermath, the largely forgotten band Les Jazz Modes stood apart. "Hoo-Tai" finds the group's chops integrating deftly with its orchestral experiments, and the sum is a finely sculpted, acutely appealing jazz tune.

I'm into piano, but it's also my frenemy. When I get frustrated with something I'm trying to learn, we stop talking for months. But then I hear a pop song and my brain leaps to how I would play it.

Pianist Renee Rosnes joined Marian McPartland on stage for the sixth annual Piano Jazz concert from the 2007 Tanglewood Jazz Festival. The two take turns quizzing each other and trade piano performances with bassist Todd Coolman.

Last night, the Album of the Year Grammy went to an underdog — Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters. Though the Joni Mitchell tribute doesn't rank among Hancock's best work, Tom Moon says that for those who know the pianist, the unlikely honor isn't really so unlikely.

Without a musicology degree, it can be hard to explain what's going on in Amir ElSaffar's "The Blues in E Half-Flat." But try this: It grooves hard, it's possible to follow the 12-bar blues form on it, and it sounds fantastic.

Long a fixture in New York's forward-thinking jazz community, bassist Ben Allison has a new album harking back to his roots in rock music. But playing simple compositions isn't as easy as it sounds.

Jorgenson's fingers are nothing but a blur when he's notes-deep into a song on his unique guitar. The veteran gypsy-jazz guitarist has performed with Elton John, Bob Dylan and Sting, and was a member of the hit-making Desert Rose Band.

Piano Jazz remembers the multi-talented jazz man Johnny Frigo. For most of his career, Frigo was known as an in-demand bass player and a prolific composer. In his 70s, Frigo re-emerged as one of the great jazz violinists. Hear an interview and performance with the premiere musician.

The phenomenal Bireli Lagrene can play anything, but his music extends a vital French tradition. The French guitarist has celebrated the hot club jazz of Django Reinhardt ever since the release of his first CD at age 13. Here, Lagrene performs with the Lausanne Big Band at a concert recorded in Switzerland.