Nick Morrison
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The advent of bebop added a fresh sound to American music. It also added new voices to some metropolitan radio stations: the late-night jazz DJs who specialized in presenting this new music to their fellow hipster nightflies. Appreciative musicians often wrote them tributes like these.
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Many jazz standards are themselves about making lists. Here are five of them, including Louis Armstrong's take on "Let's Do It," Johnny Hartman's version of "These Foolish Things" and a classic reading of Jobim's "Waters of March."
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In the Northern Hemisphere, January is typically the coldest month of the year — and it feels as if it'll never end. Perfect conditions for a blues lament. Hear songs from Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Blind Willie McTell and more.
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Starting in the 1920s, Hawkins made an afterthought of an instrument into one of the sounds we most identify with jazz. He also straddled the era of big band swing and later developments like bebop. Here are five songs that illustrate his genius.
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Decades after Django Reinhardt pioneered his distinct style of guitar-propelled swing, it's being adapted by bands like these. Hear what Frank Vignola, John Jorgensen, the Hot Club of Detroit and others are doing with the idiom.
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With a sweetly ferocious style, the alto saxophonist bridged the post-bop of the 1950s and '60s to the jazz fusion of the '70s and beyond. For the anniversary of his birth, hear some of the recordings which made him jazz royalty.
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If you haven't listened to his music in a while, you might have forgotten: The country pioneer had swing. Here are five jazz artists out of many who have put their own spins on his music.
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He revolutionized and continues to explore the jazz piano trio. Hear five selections from his staggering and ever-expanding body of small-group work.
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The great jazz drummer is celebrating his eighth decade all year by touring the world and releasing a new album. Here are five songs, from 1966 to the present day, which showcase DeJohnette at the top of his powers.
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Hear five singers take on one of the chief architects of the American popular song canon.