Jazz

Singer songwriter Emily Cavanagh on how she accidentally became famous in Ireland, started her non profit Song For You, lost the use of her legs and had to relearn how to walk, and what it means to spend a career at the intersection of songs and service.

Long before 4/20 became a global code, marijuana already had a place in jazz culture — and few figures embodied that connection more than Mezz Mezzrow. The Chicago-born clarinetist became a legendary supplier in Harlem, so closely associated with cannabis that for a time, marijuana itself was nicknamed “Mezz.”

Jeh Johnson in conversation with journalist Chris Matthews

Celebrating Madeleine Peyroux on her birthday. A look at her early years, tracing how a runaway teenager found her voice busking on the streets of Paris — and how that formative period shaped one of the most distinctive jazz singer-songwriters of her generation.

On his new album The Magic Touch, saxophonist Donald Harrison presents the same composition in ten different genres, from hard bop to hip-hop, reggae to Afrobeat, and finally blending them into what he calls “nouveau swing.”WBGO’s Pat Prescott recently spoke with Donald Harrison about how that concept came to life.

WBGO’s Dave Popkin recently spoke with 17-year-old guitarist and bandleader Marel Hidalgo about beginning to play guitar at the age of four, Hidalgo's Jamaican roots, upcoming performances, and learning to arrange for an orchestra.

Leo Sidran reflects on saxophonist John Ellis on his birthday — a master improviser, trusted collaborator, and generous presence whose unmistakable voice has made him a quiet cornerstone of modern jazz.

WBGO's Jon Kalish previews a special Lower East Side concert featuring Klezmer and Carnatic violinists

22-year-old aron! built an audience online, got signed to Verve Records by channeling the American songbook through his original tunes, without ever trying to sound “modern”. Leo Sidran revisits their recent Third Story Podcast interview together ahead of aron!'s upcoming NYC performance at Mercury Lounge on April 14th.

A birthday tribute to drummer Steve Gadd - whose feel, restraint, and imagination helped define the sound of modern recording - from a rare 1980s conversation with Ben Sidran.