The musician spent a decade homeless in San Francisco before making records, but left a much longer legacy by bringing his knowledge of bebop and blues, and an innate soulfulness into jazz music.

The genre-disrupting violinist talks about the problem with labeling music and the importance of being a role model for young women.

NPR speaks with Angel Bat Dawid about capturing emotion in sound, Chicago's influence on her music and the artist she's most grateful for: George Clinton.

Best known for his work on Hancock's blockbuster 1973 album Head Hunters, Paul Jackson was a bassist who found his musical identity between jazz and funk.

Corea, who died in February, remains the most-awarded jazz musician in Grammys history. But Corea, who always identified as a jazz player, wasn't landlocked by any genre conventions. He wasn't alone.

The song "Strange Fruit" is the powerful and thematically horrifying centerpiece of the new film The United States Vs. Billie Holiday, which positions music as a powerful force for change.

With Art Blakey as both mentor and north star, Peterson emerged in the '80s as one of that decade's most striking jazz artists.

The composer and pianist joined with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and bassist Linda May Han Oh in late 2019 to record Uneasy, which now functions as a welcome reminder.

The wide-ranging keyboardist, composer and bandleader died Feb. 9 of cancer. He was one of the fathers of jazz fusion, with his work spanning from acoustic jazz to his own interpretations of Mozart.

Dwandalyn Reece, the music curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, picks her five favorite Tiny Desk concerts.

Jazz Night visits the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church, an evolving house of worship that has incorporated John Coltrane's A Love Supreme album as their chief liturgical text.

The political is personal for the nine-time Grammy winner. Watch him lead the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet through three songs from his Democracy! Suite.

The trombonist was a major figure in South Africa's early jazz scene, and an activist after the restrictions imposed by apartheid. In 1988 he was nominated for an Oscar for his theme to Cry Freedom.

Jon Batiste was born for show business. Hear him play an intimate set in New York and on our radio show as we trace his story to his current gig as band leader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The cost of 2020 — in lives, livelihoods, legacies and communities — is high and still being tallied. For jazz critic Nate Chinen, all that loss demands change to old ideas of critical objectivity.