Npr: Jazz Profiles

Music
This documentary series profiles the legends and legacy of jazz. Hosted by singer Nancy Wilson, each episode brings to life the vibrant history of the genre through music, interviews and commentary. The fascinating stories reflected in this series are very human tales that any news junkie or jazz aficionado can relate to. (Author: NPR)
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Recent episodes from Npr: Jazz Profiles

  • Stanley Turrentine: Saxophone 'sugar Man'
    Published: Sep 10, 08
    Known for his big, warm sound, saxophonist Stanley Turrentine found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career in music. Known as "The Sugar Man" or the original "Mr. T," Turrentine produced dozens of original recordings, including a No. 1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz.
     
  • Jimmy Smith: Organ Grinder Swing
    Published: Sep 4, 08
    Once described as an "excitement merchant" for his soul-stirring sound, keyboard wizard Jimmy Smith brought the Hammond B-3 organ from novelty status to the forefront of the jazz community through innovation and prolific recording.
     
  • The Village Vanguard: A Hallowed Basement
    Published: Aug 29, 08
    The small triangular room with low ceilings and remarkable acoustics has staged plenty of essential jazz recordings. But it's only a small fraction of what has transpired at the world's oldest continuously operated jazz club.
     
  • Nat Adderley: Brotherly Swing
    Published: Aug 21, 08
    Nat Adderly was a fine trumpet player. But he spent most of his career in the shadow of his older brother, Julian "Cannonball" Adderly. Nat ran the band business and wrote many of their hits. When Cannonball died, Nat carried on, not only with the band, but also with the family tradition of educating the next generation.
     
  • Betty Carter: Fiercely Individual
    Published: Aug 15, 08
    An electric performer, Carter was an irrepressible and incomparable practitioner of the jazz vocal tradition. For nearly 50 years, the intense vocalist blazed her own trail in jazz, powered by her passionate, intense singing.
     
  • Norman Granz: Jazz Genius Behind The Scenes
    Published: Aug 8, 08
    Norman Granz had no equal as an impresario in jazz and popular music. He founded Verve and Pablo records. He created Jazz at the Philharmonic, a touring concert series that was helpful in promoting the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, and Art Tatum. As a jazz producer, he probably did more than anyone to bring modern jazz to a wider audience. This show celebrates Granz's outstanding achievements while explori
     
  • Jackie Mclean: 'jackie's Bag'
    Published: Jul 30, 08
    In nearly six decades of performing, the alto saxophonist lived a quintessential jazz survivor's life. The bebop veteran emerged from the shadows of Charlie Parker, as well as heroin addiction, to make music bristling with passion and directness.
     
  • Harry 'sweets' Edison: Simplicity In Swing
    Published: Jul 24, 08
    Known as a premier accompanist to singers and a masterful soloist, the inimitable trumpeter cultivated a spare yet bluesy approach. His career spanned a long stay with the original Count Basie band, as well as an even lengthier solo career.
     
  • Tommy Flanagan: Jazz Poet
    Published: Jul 16, 08
    Tommy Flanagan's soft-spoken manner reflected his quietly understated playing. Known for his style and technique, he was one of bebop's most important pianists. Born into the fertile Detroit jazz scene, he played with Milt Jackson, Kenny Burrell, and Thad and Elvin Jones. In 1956, Flanagan moved to New York and became a highly sought studio musician. His devotion as an accompanist resulted in his being somewhat underrated as a soloist, though he was honored with Denmark's prestigious Jazzpar pri
     
  • Melba Liston: Bones Of An Arranger
    Published: Jul 9, 08
    She cut her teeth as a trombonist in the big bands of Gerald Wilson and Dizzy Gillespie. She scored classic records for everyone from Marvin Gaye to Randy Weston. And against the odds, she made it as a woman in jazz.
     
  • Jimmy Witherspoon: 'shouting The Blues'
    Published: Jul 3, 08
    During a career more than five decades long, "Spoon" brought a strong dose of blues to many of the jazz world's finest bands. With his full, powerful baritone delivery, he was one of the best of the "blues shouters."
     
  • John Coltrane, Part 2: 'giant Steps & Beyond'
    Published: Jun 25, 08
    After years of playing with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, the saxophonist emerged as a jazz virtuoso by the end of the 1950s. But it was the restless exploration to follow that made him a pioneer of American music.
     
  • John Coltrane, Part 1: 'first Impressions'
    Published: Jun 18, 08
    No modern jazz musician has a sound more influential yet less attainable than saxophonist John Coltrane. His pure tone was established by the mid-'50s, playing in Miles Davis' hard bop quintet. Coltrane's career was characterized by his constant, exponential advancement in improvisational technique and ideas. His sound reached its peak in his quartet of the '60s, which has served as a model for modern jazz ensembles for the last forty years.
     
  • Willie "the Lion" Smith: Pianist's Pianist
    Published: Jun 11, 08
    A musician's musician whose original approach to the keyboard has made him the envy of virtually every pianist in jazz, Willie "The Lion" Smith was part of the Harlem stride scene perfected by pianists James P. Johnson and Thomas Fats Waller.
     
  • Count Basie: 'the Man & His Music,' Pt. 3
    Published: Jun 5, 08
    In the 1940s, the bandleader found himself staring at the impending decline of the Swing Era. But the sophisticated groups he put together in the years to come started a musical renaissance which helped confirm his place in jazz history.