NPR Music - JAZZ

First Listen: Kamasi Washington, 'The Epic'  A versatile sideman serves as leader, filling a three-disc, nearly three-hour album with dozens of players, new ideas and transformed old ones. The title is justified. Read this story

JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA: WEDNESDAY NIGHT WEBCASTS Akua Dixon At Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival The multi-talented cellist leads her string ensemble in concert from the African-American neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, featuring her two children on voice and drums. Read this story

JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA How Bessie Smith Ushered In The Jazz Age The singer known as the "empress of the blues" is the subject of a new HBO biopic. Jazz Night In America host Christian McBride breaks down her influence and legacy. Read this story

JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA: THE RADIO PROGRAM Venezuela's National Jazz Orchestra Returns The Simón Bolívar Big Band, the flagship jazz group of the youth music education program El Sistema, came to New York to play canonical American repertoire and works by Venezuelan composers. Read this story

MARIAN MCPARTLAND'S PIANO JAZZ Shirley Horn On Piano Jazz The vocalist brings her unmistakable contralto to a 1995 set that includes "Wouldn't It Be Lovely." Read this story