Jazz and blues music performances and features from NPR news, NPR cultural programs, and NPR Music stations.

Explore the Windy City through tracks by Ramsey Lewis, Ahmad Jamal, Lester Bowie and the contemporary artists at the forefront of today’s sound. Credit...Dante Zaballa Supported by By Giovanni ...

The recording of Livery Stable Blues (above sheet music, 1917), by some estimates, sold more than one million copies. Sam DeVincent Collection, Archives Center, NMAH The band employed a fun and ...

Jazz musicians are the innovative artists who create and perform jazz, a uniquely music style born in New Orleans in the early 1900s. These musicians blend improvisation, rhythm, and personal ...

Jazz seems to be experiencing a bit of a renaissance among movie directors – look no further than documentaries such as “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” which just premiered at the Sundance Film ...

Big bands were built in the 1920s and ’30s to blast young dancers with layers of rhythm, but creative composers seeking a larger canvas have kept the form alive. Hear 12 big selections. By Giovanni ...