Here's the special in six segments. Click to listen.

It's all play and no work this Labor Day from 1-3pm on WBGO 88.3 and wbgo.org and the Caramoor Jazz Festival Network*, with music from the 19th annual Caramoor Jazz Festival near Katonah, NY, in Surround Sound.

Here are all five groups  in one 30-second spot. Click and listen.

First up, The Cookers are the hard bop champions, led by trumpeter David Weiss with music by band members Billy Harper on tenor and Cecil McBee on bass.

Left to right: Orrin Evans, Billy Harper, David Weiss, Cecil McBee, Eddie Henderson, Craig Handy, drummer Billy Hart.. photos by Gabe Palacio for Caramoor

Multi-award winning, always working, young Gretchen Parlato’s instrument is her quiet, rhythmic voice. On “Alô, Alô,” she sings in Portuguese and adds hand percussion. Her refrain from “Better Than” seems like a personal statement and I love it: “There’s a sky full of stars so just be who you are…”

Pianist Kenny Barron performs alone. Gershwin, Porter, Strayhorn, Monk – Barron delivers each on-the-spot with ideas, clarity and swing. Nothing is wasted. I spotted pianists from the other bands at the festival in the wings, watching and listening to Kenny Barron.

The album Eleanora Fagan: To Billie with Love from Dee Dee won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal. Onstage at Caramoor, Bridgewater celebrates Billie Holiday with three songs, arrangements by Musical Director Edsel Gomez.  “Lady Sings the Blues”  is upbeat, and he puts a new hook on “A Foggy Day.” Craig Handy shines on sax on Billie and Dee Dee’s “Fine and Mellow.”

The Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band is one for all and all for one. Haynes’ feet dance at the drums, his cymbals shimmer, he snaps and crackles on the snare. He speaks the language of six and a half decades of jazz drums, and the flow is pure Roy Haynes. He closes the festival with “All Blues” by Miles Davis, a request from the audience.

Producer Jim Luce has programmed nineteen consecutive summer weekends of jazz at the Caramoor Center of Music and The Arts. We thank Jim (former WBGO morning man!), Managing Director Paul Rosenblum and everyone for supporting Jazz from Caramoor . Information about year-round programming is available at caramoor.org.

*Traveling on Labor Day? Check out  Jazz from Caramoor on the  Caramoor Jazz Festival Network, including WICN Worcester, MA; WNCU Raleigh-Durham; WCLK, Atlanta; WUSF Tampa; WDNA Miami; WCBE Columbus OH; KCCK Cedar Rapids IA; KBEM Minneapolis; KTSU Houston; and KMHD Portland. Broadcast times vary.

Roy Haynes and Dee Dee Bridgewater.. Richard Conde Photography

I typically steer clear of superlatives when I write about musicians. My opinion is no less valid than any listener's opinion. That's one reason why I would never consider myself a critic. Just an advocate, really. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me tell you that Roy Haynes is the greatest living jazz drummer. There. I said it. And I'm not just basing this on his accumulated career - you know, the 50+ years of playing with every major innovator since the late 1940s. Truth be told, Roy Haynes is eternally youthful, and he's still a badass. In July 1987, when Roy was a cool 62 years old (retirement age for the lucky few), he brought his quartet to Riverside Park in New York. WBGO recorded it for posterity, including this lovely jam on "All Blues." Donald Harrison is the saxophonist, Dave Kikoski played piano, Ed Howard is the bassist.
And the leader...Roy...(tap tap tap)...Haynes...
Click here to listen.
-Josh