Jazz

The director, who has been nominated for an Academy Award for his film BlacKkKlansman, spoke to Fresh Air in December 2017 about his Netflix series, She's Gotta Have It.

McLorin Salvant first studied classical voice, but turned to jazz because it offered her more range. "In jazz, I felt I could sing these deep, husky lows," she told Terry Gross in this 2015 interview.

Writer John Szwed is the author of the new biography, So What: The Life of Miles Davis about the influential jazz trumpeter. Szwed is the John M. Musser Professor of Anthropology, African American Studies, Music and American Studies at Yale University. He is also the author of the biography Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra, about another innovative musician.

Spike Lee talks about updating his 1986 film 'She's Gotta Have It' for a Netflix series, growing up in Brooklyn, and his father who is a jazz musician.

We feature three members of the quintet Ranky Tanky: guitarist and singer CLAY ROSS, singer QUIANA PARLER, and trumpeter and singer CHARLTON SINGLETON. The group hails from South Carolina and they play the music of/inspired by the Gullah culture, found in the low country regions of South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah people were descendants of slaves from West Africa. Three members of the band are Gullah. Ranky Tanky's songs are a mix of spirituals, dance music and children's rhymes. Their debut CD titled Ranky Tanky has been in the top 10 of Itunes jazz albums.

A native of Oklahoma, McShann came to Kansas City, Mo., in 1937, when it was the capital for boogie-woogie, blues and swing. He spoke to Terry Gross in 1987, and also played a few songs in the studio.

Considered one of the inventors of modern jazz drumming, Roach helped formulate the language of bebop, along with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Originally broadcast in 1988.

O'Day first became known in 1941 when she joined Gene Krupa's band. Later, she later sang with Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman and many other small groups. Originally broadcast in 1987.

Frishberg's playful songs include "Peel Me a Grape" and "A Little Taste." To mark the publication of his new memoir, My Dear Departed Past, we listen back to a 1991 interview with the songwriter.

The legendary alto sax player began playing saxophone at the age of 15 in native New York City. Schooled in bebop at the start of his career, McLean names Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Charlie Parker as influences. He's played with jazz greats pianist Bud Powell, Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. He continues to play and record today. He also teaches music at the University of Hartford.