Melissa Aldana and Crash Trio released its self-titled debut album in June.

Listen:

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=331709979&m=331751486

Melissa Aldana, who became the first female instrumentalist and first South American musician to win the International Jazz Saxophone Competition last fall, is not the average talent-contest winner.

Aldana plays tenor saxophone — which is unusual enough by itself, jazz still being mostly a boy’s club. On top of that, she has a big, fierce sound that carries echoes of nearly forgotten swing-era players like , and she’s got a distinct style accented by long, cleanly executed melodic lines.

One significant thing about Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio’s self-titled debut album is what’s missing: There’s no piano or harmony instrument. Some of Aldana’s favorite musicians recorded in similar settings; she says it’s an important step in her evolution, and that she likes the responsibility of outlining the chords, as well as the freedom to change them. Continue reading →

Jimmy and Deana Katz/Courtesy of the artist

Pianist and composer Jessica Williams has gained critical acclaim and multiple Grammy nominations for her writing and remarkable skill at the keyboard. Dave Brubeck called her “one of the greatest jazz pianists I have ever heard.”

On this episode of Piano Jazz from 1992, Williams solos on “Why Do I Love You” and joins host McPartland for “Straight, No Chaser” — one of two Thelonious Monk tunes during the session.

Listen:

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=336110036&m=336110263

Originally broadcast in the spring of 1992.

Set List

Sam Friend and his band the New Orleans Swamp Donkeys play jazz, blues and originals, drawing on the sound of grassroots jazz combos from a century ago.

In this edition of Song Travels, Friend joins host to discuss his transition from New York trio musician to New Orleans bandleader. He shares his love of traditional “jass” with a rendition of “Sweet Lorraine” on six-string banjo.

Listen:

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=337138177&m=337138793

Set List

                                                                      Yu Tsai/Courtesy of the artist

Listen:

http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/pj/2014/08/20140801_pj_01.mp3

A New York native, brings the influence of jazz greats like to her piano playing, while her songwriting is inspired by , and .

On this episode of Piano Jazz, Alicia Keys performs a set of classic soul, a Fats Waller tune and couple of her original compositions with host . They round out the hour with a co-composition of “Marian and Alicia Blues.”

Set List

Originally recorded Sept. 11, 2003. Originally broadcast April 13, 2004.

At the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in February, one couldn’t help but notice the striking new grand piano on the main stage, emblazoned with the name SHADD. When the many accomplished pianists that wee­­kend sat down to strike those keys, it was equally easy to spot their delight in the instrument.

That piano was the product of a trailblazer in his field. The Shadd in question is jazz drummer Warren Shadd, the first African-American piano manufacturer. That makes him the first large-scale commercial African-American instrument manufacturer, period.

For Shadd, piano making is part of his birthright. His grandparents were musicians: His grandmother was a ragtime pianist in the South in the ’30s, and his grandfather invented (and performed on) a collapsible drum set. (He never patented it, a lesson his grandson learned.) Shadd’s father was himself a piano technician, restorer, builder and performer — as well as a trombonist. And Shadd’s aunt was the NEA Jazz Master pianist and vocalist Shirley Horn. A child prodigy, young Warren made his own concert debut at age 4. Continue reading →

From the outside looking in, it may seem as if jazz recordings have slowed to a flurry. But it’s really more like a blizzard, with dozens already coming down in the new year — including new efforts from big names like Pat Metheny, Danilo Pérez and Brad Mehldau. Before we’re snowed under, here are a few others worth hearing. Continue reading →

Records show that 100 years ago today, a boy named Herman Poole Blount was born in Birmingham, Ala. Between that moment and his passing in 1993, the man nicknamed “Sonny” developed huge musical talent, synthesized an all-encompassing Afro-futurist worldview and grew into the name Le Sony’r Ra — Sun Ra for short. And he lives on as a cultural hero at the intersection of flamboyant outsider and self-made genius. Continue reading →

Whenever photographer Chuck Stewart was hired by a record company to document a recording session, he would shoot during the rehearsal takes, playback and downtime. The company would take what it needed, the remainder likely never to be developed, much less published. After decades in the photography business, and thousands of album covers to his name, he’s amassed a lot of negatives. Continue reading →