Michelle Mercer

Shorter's biographer, Michelle Mercer, recalls the many "isms" and lessons she learned from her time working with the legendary composer and saxophonist on his biography, Footprints.

This Oklahoma City venue is showcasing the role of protest music in the Trump era, and how songwriting can also bridge the political divide.

His radical combination of symphonic and popular music comes eight years after a controversial statement about the word "jazz."

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.

Mendonça, one of Brazil's most popular pop stars, is solidifying her reputation as the face of a new genre: "feminejo," which is injecting a female perspective into the region's pop-country music.

Saxophonist and composer Greg Ward's Stomping Off From Greenwood is a love letter to the city where he came of age as a musician.

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.

The latest album from composer Miguel Zenón, Yo Soy la Tradición, is an eight-part suite written as an homage to his native home of Puerto Rico.

Luciana Souza is a Grammy-nominated jazz singer and composer best known for thoughtful takes on her native Brazilian songs. In The Book of Longing, she explores saudade, or yearning.

In 2013, jazz composer and alto saxophonist Caroline Davis got some troubling news: Her father had a potentially dangerous condition — arrhythmia. His heart was beating irregularly. Her concern for him lead to a unique, musical response, and a new album.