NPR Music - JAZZ

Matthew Stevens Group: Live At Berklee Whether executing the new visions of his peers or fielding calls from veterans, few young jazz guitarists are as highly tipped. Matthew Stevens leads a band in songs from his forthcoming debut album. Read this story

MARIAN MCPARTLAND'S PIANO JAZZ Mulgrew Miller On Piano Jazz In a 2002 session, Miller's unique harmonic and rhythmic style comes through in his composition, "Carousel." He also joins host Marian McPartland for Duke Ellington's "What Am I Here For?" Read this story

NPR'S 'JAZZ PROFILES' Al Grey: The Last Big Time Plunger Trombonist Al Grey was highly regarded as "the last of the big time plungers" thanks to his skill at using a plumber's plunger to manipulate tones coming from the bell of his trombone. Grey rose to prominence as a soloist and gifted accompanist to singers, developing a unique style playing in the bands of Lionel Hampton and Count Basie. Read this story

A BLOG SUPREME A Guitarist Starts Anew, Except For This Old Song Matthew Stevens has mostly moved on from his shelved debut recording — but one tune remains in rotation. He explains how Tony Williams and a certain pop hit influenced his unconventional "Emergence." Read this story

CODE SWITCH Remaking All That Jazz From Shanghai's Lost Era Many Shanghai jazz standards of the 1930s and '40s were banned in China after the Chinese Communist Party took over. But they reemerged decades later through cover versions. Now, the songs are back again in a new cover album by a Chinese-American electronic artist and a jazz singer from Shanghai. Read this story