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For NPR Music's jazz critic and the editorial director of WBGO, 2018 was a year that saw music — not just jazz — in the throes of a creative boom, rocketing in many directions.

Mitt Romney's tax returns show he pays an effective rate of just under 15 percent. His father, George, paid two to three times that rate. What one family's changing tax burden reveals about the design of the American tax code.

Liane Hansen speaks with jazz composer and bandleader Carla Bley. Perhaps best know for her big- and VERY big-bands, she's pared down to a mid-sized group of eight top-notch players for her new cd, 4X4. (WATT records 012 159 547-2).

Given the proliferation of year-end Top 10 lists, it seems natural that Shadow Classics — which gives shelter to under-appreciated music — would feature its own list of 2006 recordings likely to become Shadow Classics down the line. Don't let these gems go unnoticed.

Could anyone have predicted the first and second place finishers in this year's NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll? The poll master certainly didn't — and he voted for both of them.

Jazz percussionist Mongo Santamaria dies on Feb. 1 at 85. Santamaria scored a Top-10 hit with his version of Herbie Hancock's jazz-funk classic "Watermelon Man" in 1963. He also wrote the song "Afro Blue," later performed and made famous by John Coltrane. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has a remembrance.

Who does this sound like?That’s the first question we ask when we hear music new to us. It’s as true with Havergal Brian’s as with anyone else’s—probably…

There’s an incredible abundance of great new jazz albums already out this year. Here are five handpicked by Greg Bryant, host of Evening Jazz and the Get Down on WRTI.

Jim Cotter speaks with pianist and FROM THE TOP host Christopher O'Riley. Susan Lewis takes us to the Mutter Museum.By Jim…

Jim Cotter speaks with pianist and FROM THE TOP host Christopher O'Riley.By Jim…