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Springtime brings songbirds back to the sky. The first "bird" many think of when they think jazz is sax legend Charlie Parker (it was his nickname). This Take Five doesn't focus on Bird, Birdland or the many song titles that riff on that theme. Instead, this jazz ornithology lesson features songs of a different feather flocked together.

On this All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen chats with NPR Music's Frannie Kelley, Lars Gotrich and Patrick Jarenwattananon about some of their favorite new metal, noise, jazz and hip-hop songs.

From the mercurial twists in CPE Bach's keyboard sonatas to the sprawling, nearly empty canvas of Morton Feldman's Trio, NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz spin an extra-wide variety of new classical CDs.

With inspiration cast wide, from Thelonious Monk and Sam Cooke to Robert Wyatt, Saturn Sings is an abstract cliff-dive. But in the midst of Mary Halvorson's mind-bogglingly knotty guitar work, there's a backbone of smart jazz composition that reaches deeper. Hear the full album until its release on Oct. 5.

The tenor sax is a powerful instrument. This is especially apparent in music created by mighty jazz masters whose skills shaped sounds still reflected in present-day compositions. Hear five great pairings, battles and studio jam sessions.

The early stages of 2011 have already seen new jazz records inspired by the civil rights movement, scored for a New Orleans trio and rearranging an underrated drummer's music. Hear music from Marcus Shelby, Plunge, Joel Harrison and the Horo label.

When pianist Vijay Iyer first put on a Smith record, he heard "great silences, toneless columns of air, long tones that cut diagonally across the hubbub of the ensemble."

Dekker plays drums in the innovative black-metal bands Agalloch and Ludicra, but says that before he'd ever heard Kiss, "there was only Coltrane." Find out which Mingus album he calls a "Lovecraftian noir soundtrack" and more with Dekker's favorite five jazz records.

If you find yourself stuck in the house due to recent snowfall around the country, huddling around the fire has surely become tiresome by now. So why not hover around your computer with some wintry tunes and a cup of tea instead?

The trumpeter's legendary sound and bravado dwarfed his 5'6" frame. Known as "Little Jazz," and later just "Jazz," his nicknames befit his devotion (five decades) to the art form. Celebrate his centennial with five of his fieriest early performances.