Saxophone with jazz ensemble

The saxophonist and his quartet cross-pollinate Indian classical music and vintage Captain Beefheart to creat complicated rhythms and solos reminiscent of jazz-rock fusion.

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.

Doin' the Gigi showcases Gigi Gryce as a swinging saxophonist and writer of quirky melodies.

As a composer, Coleman has been heavily influenced by James Brown's funk. You wouldn't mistake Coleman's band Five Elements for J.B.'s, but like the Godfather of Soul, he goes in for fast, jittery beats on Harvesting Semblances and Affinities.

Rudresh Mahanthappa's Kinsmen blends South Asian music with American jazz. The jazz saxophonist says his inspiration to explore Indian music on the saxophone came from a CD his brother gave him as a joke called Saxophone Indian Style.

For lovers of jazz music, the year 2005 brought a wealth of reissues by critical artists from Jelly Roll Morton to John Coltrane.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert by legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. He turns 75 Wednesday. The CD was recorded live at a concert in Boston shortly after Sept. 11, 2001.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Blowing In From Chicago, a new re-issue from tenor saxophonists Clifford Jordan and John Gilmore.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Eddie Harris's newest cd "Greater than the Sum of His Parts."

Commentator Gerald Early reflects on saxophonist Charlie Parker and the nature of African American genius on the occasion of the release of "Charlie Parker with Strings: The Master Takes."