Playlist: Women in Brass

Women play at the top of their fields in jazz, classical, blues, and reggae. Here are just a few of the dynamic women brass players who are showing off their chops and sharing their talents with us.

Playlist: 12 Black Film & TV Composers You Should Know

From Duke Ellington to Tamar-kali, these 12 composers have shaped what movies and TV sound like.

Jazz great Chick Corea with 23 Grammy Awards dies at 79

Corea, who won a staggering 23 Grammy Awards, pushed the boundaries of the genre and worked alongside Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock.

New museum traces history of Black music across genres

A new music museum in Nashville is telling an important and often overlooked story about the roots of American popular music.

Music helping Tony Bennett battle Alzheimer’s disease

Bennett was first diagnosed with the irreversible neurological disorder in 2016, but he continues to rehearse and twice a week. His wife says: “When he sings, he’s the old Tony.”

Video: Jazz Humorist Slim Gaillard Takes on ‘Clair de lune’

Master of both humor and music, Slim Gaillard always found a way to make his audience smile. Watch his swinging, sidesplitting take on one of Debussy’s most beloved works.

South Africa mourns anti-apartheid trombonist Jonas Gwangwa

Tributes are pouring in for South Africa’s Oscar-nominated anti-apartheid jazz trombonist and composer Jonas Gwangwa, who has died at the age of 83.

Claude Bolling, popular jazz-classical musician, dead at 90

The Cannes native was a professional musician by his teens and over the following decades would perform with everyone from Lionel Hampton to Yo-Yo Ma.

Last studio recording of jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw released

A forgotten studio recording of the late jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw has been released as part of an effort to preserve jazz history.

North Carolina home of Nina Simone gets permanent protection

The childhood home of iconic musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone will be indefinitely preserved in North Carolina.

Rare Cannonball Adderley 1966 Seattle concerts going digital

A rare collection of previously unissued recordings by legendary jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley is becoming more accessible thanks to two small jazz labels.

Standing On The Corner: Classical, Jazz, Hip-Hop & All Else

Though firmly avant-garde, Standing On The Corner’s talents have earned them notoriety among mainstream acts. Now, the “post-genre” ensemble’s distinctive musical palette has grown to include classical music.

Jimmy Cobb, ‘Kind of Blue’ drummer for Miles Davis, dies

Jimmy Cobb, a percussionist and the last surviving member of Miles Davis’ 1959 “Kind of Blue” groundbreaking jazz album, has died. His wife, Eleana Tee Cobb, announced on Facebook that her husband died Sunday at his New York City home from lung cancer. He was 91. Born in Washington, D.C., Cobb was a drummer on the “Kind of Blue” jam …

WATCH: Pianist Aaron Diehl Plays Scott Joplin, Fats Waller, and Gershwin in Live Video Concert

WFMT is thrilled to bring you this upbeat, swinging concert livestream from pianist and composer Aaron Diehl featuring propulsive Harlem stride hits by James P. Johnson, Thomas “Fats” Waller, and Willie “the Lion” Smith, plus selections by Scott Joplin, Gershwin, and Massenet.

This Friday: A Swinging Stride Piano Livestream with Aaron Diehl

Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl shares virtuosic music by “Fats” Waller, Willie “the Lion” Smith, plus selections by Gershwin, Grieg, and Scott Joplin in a free upcoming livestream co-presented by WFMT.

Louis Armstrong org starts COVID-19 fund for jazz musicians

The fund will give one-time grants of $1,000 to jazz musicians that live in the New York City region and work regularly in the five boroughs of New York City.

Son: Jazz great Ellis Marsalis Jr. dead at 85; fought virus

Marsalis was born in New Orleans, son of the operator of a hotel where he met touring Black musicians who couldn’t stay at the segregated downtown hotels where they performed.

McCoy Tyner, iconic and influential jazz pianist, dies

NEW YORK (AP) — McCoy Tyner, the groundbreaking and influential jazz pianist and the last surviving member of the John Coltrane Quartet, has died at age 81. Tyner’s family confirmed the death in a statement released on social media Friday. No more details were provided. Tyner was born in Philadelphia on Dec. 11, 1938. He eventually met Coltrane and joined …

Creating a Violin Concerto of Discovery: Nicola Benedetti on Her Collaboration With Wynton Marsalis

Classical music, jazz, Celtic folksongs, and funk — these genres make up just a few of the words in Wynton Marsalis’ musical language. Violinist Nicola Benedetti calls Marsalis’ new violin concerto a “path of discovery.”

Get Into the Halloween Swing With This Jazzy, Vocalese Tune by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross

From the 1961 album High Flying, enjoy “Halloween Spooks,” Dave Lambert’s whimsical, bebop-infused tune delivered with the characteristic vocalese and giddily blended harmonies of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.

Playlist: 10 Jazzed Up Versions of Chopin Classics

Frédéric Chopin is one of the most beloved composers of all time. Here are 10 jazz versions of Chopin that will have you listening to old favorites with new ears.

Playlist: Fretless and Linear — How Classical Violin Shaped Andrew Bird’s Sound

Using his violin and virtuosic whistle, Andrew Bird genre-jumps from indie rock to jazz, and from folk to classical. Born in Lake Forest, Bird began learning classical violin from the Suzuki Method at the age of four and recalls, “My mom would have WFMT on all the time… My dad listened to Merle Haggard.”

Igor Levit not content to be heard only through piano

Winner of last year’s Gilmore Artist Award, given quadrennially to a pianist along with a $300,000 prize, Levit is among the most probing young artists in classical music. His website describes him as “Citizen. European. Pianist.”

Pianist Jacques Loussier Dies at Age 84

The French pianist was known for his jazz interpretations of classical music, most famously, the works of Bach in his Play Bach record series.

André Previn, Oscar-winning composer, has died at 89

Previn was a child prodigy whose family fled Nazi Germany. As a teenager, he found work as a composer and arranger in Hollywood, mostly at MGM, winning four Oscars for his orchestrations of such stylish musicals as 1964’s “My Fair Lady.”