Search results for

Pianist Tardo Hammer is a marvelous bebop player and a sought-after sideman. When he's not playing festivals and club dates around the world, he remains active as a jazz educator. An expert interpreter of the music of Tad Dameron, Hammer plays his tunes and joins host Marian McPartland on "Good Bait."

Guthrie has had a profound influence on American music, and he was such a prolific writer that some of his lyrics have yet to be set to music. Having been given access to the Guthrie archives, singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke recently released The Works, which adapts previously unreleased Guthrie lyrics.

There were great rock drummers before Mitch Mitchell, and there were even better drummers after him. But Mitchell's jazz-influenced drumming was just as indispensable as Hendrix's guitar in The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Mitchell was found dead in his hotel room early Wednesday. He was 61.

When his contract to a major record label went down with the ship, acoustic soul singer Eric Hutchinson hit the road to generate his own exposure — and, in the end, wound up self-releasing his debut. Hutchinson plays his material in a session from WXPN.

A genre-bending indie-rock band with a bluesy twang and country-fried riffs, Blitzen Trapper wears its influences proudly. The group's latest album, Furr, has been a favorite of critics, who've placed it on many "Best of 2008" lists.

If classic jazz has a contemporary voice, it's that of guitarist, vocalist and bandleader John Pizzarelli. He's fashioned an ultra-cool style that's both modern and rooted in the jazz tradition. Here, the John Pizzarelli Trio swings on "Here Comes the Sun" before Pizzarelli and McPartland perform "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning."

Hiromi's Sonicbloom brought a high-energy kickoff to 2009's Toast of the Nation broadcast, as she performed a set from where all four members met: the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. The quartet performs with High-Romantic lyricism, jazz-fusion electronics and arena-rock bombast.

Tokumaru is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Tokyo. With diverse tastes ranging from Brian Wilson to Sun Ra, he crafts arrangements that can come off like the work of Sufjan Stevens, complete with pop flourishes and wild freakouts.

Conductor Marin Alsop examines the rarely heard music from early in Aaron Copland's career. With an ear toward Copland's bold and sometimes jazzy rhythms, Alsop says that listeners can hear hints of the wide expanses that would later open up in music such as Appalachian Spring.

The latest album by best-selling Irish solo artist Enya explores familiar spiritual themes and brings a fresh perspective on the new year. In an interview, she reveals the influence The Beatles had on her new songs, as well as her attitude toward critics.