Alex Ariff

Jazz Night profiles drummer, composer, educator, & 2022 NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart. Hear stories from his upbringing, words from his mentees, & a performance from Hart's quartet live at Dizzy's Club.

To celebrate their 50-year anniversary, we trace the history and legacy of the independent jazz record label Strata-East founded by trumpeter Charles Tolliver and the late pianist Stanley Cowell.

Portland drummer Mel Brown shares some Motown stories from the 1970s, and of how he returned to his hometown in order to build its scene. Also: a 2019 set from the Montavilla Jazz Festival.

Watch Shemekia Copeland play the 2021 Exit Zero Jazz Festival and, on our radio episode, get inside her eclectic sound and topical lyrics, connecting her to blues icons from Ruth Brown to Ma Rainey.

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.

On this show, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis invite the Sesame Street gang onstage. Plus, trombonist Joe Fielder's Open Sesame share rare songs from the Sesame songbook.

Host Christian McBride and trumpeter/composer Wynton Marsalis reflect on Marsalis' studio recordings that address injustices and speak about the role music plays in speaking truth to power.

Let's go to the museum with our ears. Members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis explain their work inspired by the collection at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

We revisit pianist, singer and composer Andy Bey throughout his life: growing up in Newark, N.J., working with Horace Silver, performing during his 1990s renaissance and now, looking back at 80.

Every December, saxophonist Joe Lovano travels home to Cleveland to throw himself a birthday concert. We hear tales of Lovano family lore, and a get a slice of his musical past and present.