Jazz

The freewheeling saxophonist and his small group from the 1970s came together for a live concert in 2007 -- their first together in more than two decades. Now, a recording has been posthumously released on CD, and critic Kevin Whitehead says it's like they never went away.

The Analog Players Society provides some of the best evidence since the rise of Vampire Weekend that formerly exotic international music -- particularly African rhythms and accents -- has become an everyday part of modern popular tunes.

Guaraldi had range, as well as an instrumental hit right when jazz was vanishing from AM radio.

The jazz trio returns to covering classic rock, folk and pop tunes on its latest album, Where Do You Start. Fresh Air critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the band's take on Elvis Costello, Nick Drake, Sonny Rollins and more.

Julio Cortazar's book Rayuela is expansive, smart, breezy, romantic and occasionally reminiscent of a disturbing dream. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says that Miguel Zenon and Laurent Coq's Rayuela-inspired album lands on all those squares.

Garbarek helped the ECM label find its emerging voice 40 years ago. A new box set of early albums captures the saxophonist's forming sound — austere and astringent.

Listen to an in-studio concert and conversation with the Canadian singer and her longtime guitarist, Jordan Officer.

Scholar and fan Ryan Truesdell has turned unheard Evans scores into richly textured works.

Davis' bluesy alto sax rasp is straight out of Charlie Parker's playbook, but he makes it his own in a new live recording from the Smalls Jazz Club.

The jazz musician didn't make his burden any lighter by choosing to play tenor and soprano saxophones -- the same instruments his father, John Coltrane, indelibly stamped. But critic Kevin Whitehead says he speaks in his own voice on the album Spirit Fiction.

Bassist Linda Oh's story is so compelling, everyone who write about her mentions it: how she was born in Malaysia to Chinese parents, who emigrated to western Australia when she was three. Oh's second album is out. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says her music also covers a lot of ground.

It's tricky making a little band sound this big, but trombonist Ray Anderson knows his tricks.

There have been a few groundbreaking harpists in jazz and improvised music, from Dorothy Ashby to Zeena Parkins. Now, Fresh Air's jazz critic says the Colombian phenomenon joins that list with Double Portion, his new album of solos and duets.

Drummer Mike Reed's quartet People, Places and Things was put together to spotlight music written in Chicago in a fertile period between 1954 and 1960. The group has since expanded its mission to include later works, which are included on a new album titled Clean on the Corner.

Masabumi Kikuchi's fully improvised album Sunrise features late, like-minded drummer Paul Motian.

Han Bennink hears sonic possibilities in many objects beyond the typical drum set. The Dutch drum maestro, one of the leaders in European free jazz and free improvisation, joined Fresh Air for an in-studio interview and concert. Before he left, he drummed on virtually everything in the office.

Day started singing and dancing when she was a teenager, and made her first film at 24. After nearly 40 movies, she walked away from that part of her life in 1968, and started rescuing and caring for animals. Here, she speaks to Terry Gross in a lengthy interview about her career in film and music.

From a new series, Kevin Whitehead reviews a pair of '60s LPs from the distinctive trumpeter.

South African trumpeter and band leader Hugh Masakela has released more than 30 albums since his American debut in 1961. The concept behind his latest album, Jabulani, is deceptively simple. It's a collection of South African wedding songs with Masakela remembers vividly from his youth.

In December, Columbia released a box set of the 19 studio albums Dave Brubeck's quarter recorded between 1955 and 1966. Besides familiar titles like Time Out and Dave Digs Disney, there were a host of all-but-forgotten albums. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a few of them are well-worth tracking down.