We celebrate 25 Years of democracy in South Africa by focusing on the trailblazers that stayed during the brutal era of apartheid, featuring Herbie Tsoaeli and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.Read More
The Comet is Coming is a force of nature. The British trio's approach to the Tiny Desk was ferocious. Shabaka Hutchings, aka King Shabaka, blew his sax hard while his effects pedal added reverb, expanding not only his sound but altering the office and making it a little eerier.Read More
The guitarist, who hails from a small town on the edge of the West Siberian Plain, competed against two Americans for one of, if not the, most prestigious prizes available to younger jazz artists.Read More
Know someone who just LOVES Jazz? Use this guide from KJEM, the Jazz Gem of the Palouse to help you pick out a gift they will appreciate!Read More
The Brooklyn-born Burgie studied at Juilliard and co-wrote many of the songs on Harry Belafonte's breakthrough album, Calypso, including his genre-defining hit, "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)." Read More
The singer and pianist says he's loved Porter's music since he was a little kid. Connick's latest album pays tribute to an enduring influence.Read More
Before Nat King Cole became known for his velvety singing voice, he was a pianist working nightly gigs to hone his craft.Read More
His radical combination of symphonic and popular music comes eight years after a controversial statement about the word "jazz."Read More
Jazz Night in America offers a three-artist sampler of vocalists. Get introduced to the gospel roots of Quiana Lynell, the salsa stylings of Jeremy Bosch and the harmonizing trio Duchess.Read More
We revisit pianist, singer and composer Andy Bey throughout his life: growing up in Newark, N.J., working with Horace Silver, performing during his 1990s renaissance and now, looking back at 80.Read More
The Alabama Shakes singer and guitarist brought an eight-piece backing band to the Tiny Desk for a set of deeply personal and affecting songs.Read More
Jazz drummer, bandleader and mentor Art Blakey was born 100 years ago. The Jazz Messengers came to be called Blakey's University and graduated stars Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter and Wynton Marsalis.Read More
Rosetta Tharpe was a huge star in her era and set the template for rock and roll. So why was she absent from popular consciousness after her death — and why did it take decades to revive her legacy?Read More
The jazz pianist has pulled the curtain off his polymathic abilities, bringing his fine art exhibition — which includes video, installations and performance — home to New York.Read More
The spirit of Cab Calloway lives on in Masego, the singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who surprised NPR's Tiny Desk audience with a zany sense of showmanship.Read More
In 1954, after several draining decades as a jazz composer, performer and mentor, Mary Lou Williams quit. When she returned, she claimed her true power as one of jazz's fiercest advocates.Read More
Ella Fitzgerald's musical genius and influence is still being felt today. Latinx musicians Mabiland and Daymé Arocena explain how Fitzgerald inspires their music. Read More
In the 1970s, Fitzgerald became the face (and glass-shattering voice) of Memorex tapes. It fueled a career revival that extended her relevance and positioned her to pass the torch to a new generation.Read More
Coltrane recorded the album in New Jersey, at the admiring behest of a Québécois filmmaker named Gilles Groulx, who used it to score his docufictional film Le chat dans le sac.Read More
We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis going electric for Bitches Brew — part controversial, part revolutionary and as a whole, historic.Read More
Bessie Smith's songs are tales of liberated women who are not afraid to speak openly about what they want, what they need and what they are tired of. Read More
These women made some of the most significant music of the past century. They originated genres, broke political boundaries, nurtured generations of followers and in most cases, became icons.Read More
The Brazilian singer and guitarist, who won wide acclaim for his abundant technical skill and minimalist style, was behind one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time, 1964's Getz/Gilberto.Read More
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with legendary South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim about his latest album, The Balance.Read More
Music historian James Karst explains his recent research into the early life of the legendary Louis Armstrong.Read More
Wade In The Water contains music featured in the 26-part documentary about gospel music. Read More
Los Angeles-based jazz vocalist Judy Wexler recently released her fifth album, Crowded Heart. Why, in the age of streaming, did she choose to release it solely as a CD?Read More
Over a career stretching back to the 1950s, Malcom John Rebennack came to be a living symbol of the city of New Orleans and its bottomless musical character.Read More
A solo piano version of "It's Too Late" and a full-band take on "You've Been Around Too Long" were just two of the songs she performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival more than 40 years ago.Read More
The vibraphonist has a "love-hate relationship" with his instrument that has been helpful in perfecting his craft — but it wouldn't mean much without the deep emotional well he pulls from.Read More
New Orleans has a fairly spotty track record when it comes to preserving cultural landmarks, but Buddy Bolden's blighted former residence may avoid being lost to time, as he nearly was.Read More
In Melbourne for its eighth iteration, the All-Star Global Concert brought together marquee names in jazz around a concert program of international, but borderless, collaboration.Read More
NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Christian McBride of Jazz Night in America about the forgotten all-female big bands that toured the United States during World War II.Read More
Join KJEM 89.9FM in Pullman at the Gladish Auditorium, April 11th, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. Jazz Night spotlights local to the Palouse groups Jazz Wires and Fatt Jazz. No ticket […]Read More
The jazz legend and barrier breaker was born on March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, Ala.Read More
The DIVA Jazz Orchestra celebrates 25 years, and one of the last surviving members of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm reflects on the legacies of all-female big bands.Read More
Wilson, who won three Grammy awards and recorded more than 60 albums, died at her California home Thursday after a long illness. From 1996-2005, she hosted NPR's documentary series Jazz Profiles.Read More
Pianist Jason Moran calls James Reese Europe "basically the 'big bang' of jazz." Moran's tribute to the composer and WWI "Hellfighter" pulls his contributions to the genre out of history.Read More
The owner of the revered Village Vanguard in New York City — and a champion of generations of jazz musicians, including Thelonious Monk — died Saturday at age 95.Read More
Dorough spent two decades as a jazz player, singer, conductor and arranger in New York before being approached, at his advertising day job, to explain math to children via music.Read More
The Retro Cocktail Hour may be moving from Northwest Public Broadcasting’s NPR and Classical Music service, but it already has a well-established second home on the NWPB Jazz station, KJEM […]Read More
