Jazz

The 85-year-old saxophonist's new album features live recordings made between 1979 and 2012. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead calls Holding The Stage a "mixed bag" with a few "real gems."

The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer doesn't play on his new jazz album, but critic Kevin Whitehead says Old Locks and Irregular Verbs is nevertheless a perfect introduction to Threadgill's voice.

Lage began playing guitar at the age of 5 and appeared on stage at the Grammys at 13. He talks to Fresh Air about growing up a guitar prodigy, his father's gentle coaching and his new trio album.

The new Miles Davis biopic begins in the 1970s, at the end of Davis' five-year hiatus from the music scene. Critic David Edelstein calls Don Cheadle's portrayal of the musician "electrifying."

Pianist Aruán Ortiz grew up in Cuba and lived in Spain a few years before moving to the US in 2002. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Ortiz's new trio music is fully bilingual.

Percussionist Roman Diaz arrived in New York from Havana in 1999 and has since become a mainstay in the avant-garde jazz and Afro-Cuban music communities. Critic Milo Miles reviews his debut album

Music from Thad Jones and Mel Lewis' first and seventh Mondays at the Village Vanguard is out on a new two-CD set. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says All My Yesterdays explodes with creative energy.

Johnson was one of the greatest pianists of his time. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the Classic James P. Johnson Sessions (1921-1943) "paints a portrait of a working virtuoso."

Hicks, who died on Saturday, began performing with his band Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks in the late '60s. Rock historian Ed Ward has an appreciation. Originally broadcast Jan 10, 2002.

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's first recording in Feb. 1917 is often cited as the first jazz record ever, but critic Kevin Whitehead says that the roots of jazz stretch a little further back.

Terell Stafford and his quintet bring a warm and hefty tone to a tribute album honoring the late Philadelphia horn player Lee Morgan. Kevin Whitehead says the new album is risky — but successful.

The composer, conductor, teacher and music historian who coined the term Third Stream for his synthesis of jazz and classical music, died Sunday in Boston from complications of leukemia. He was 89.

In the 1970s guitarist Bill Frisell was a student of jazz composer and arranger Michael Gibbs at Boston's Berklee College of Music. This is the album some Frisell fans have been wishing for.

Ornette Coleman died Thursday, at the age of 85. Listen to a pair of conversations with the saxophonist and composer, as well as interviews with members of his quartet — Don Cherry and Charlie Haden — and his son, Denardo Coleman.

Bassist Gary Peacock, pianist Marc Copland and drummer Joey Baron bring an airy, elastic swing to their new album, Now This. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the players pull the melodies together well.

Despite its clarity and cohesion, Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the new album from Cuban pianist Ramon Valle and his trio is half knock-out, half schmaltzy.

"I developed in my head that I'm never any better than my last concert or the last time I played," B.B. King told Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 1996.

Fifty years ago in a Washington, DC nightclub, the Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded "The In Crowd," a rare jazz single that landed on the pop charts. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the fans were half the show.

Triangles and Circles, the new album from Dafnis Prieto, blends Afro-Cuban beats, blues feeling and spontaneous rhythmic variations. Critic Kevin Whitehead says that drums are at the album's heart.

In honor of Billie Holiday's 100th birthday this month, several artists are releasing out Holiday tribute albums. Fresh Air jazz critic Kevin Whitehead looks at a couple of these by other singers. One he rather likes; the other, not so much.