Guitarist Calvin Keys with Chris Cortez

Pianist Randy Weston with Melanie Berzon

Bassist Stanley Clarke with Chris Cortez

Guitarist Larry Coryell with Chris Cortez

Come Rain or Come Shine: Johnny Mercer, 100 Years – 1000 Songs
Johnny Mercer’s songs are among the most popular hits of the 1930s thru 1950s.  Riverwalk Jazz tips its hat to this songwriting giant on his 100th birthday.  Tune in for rare interview excerpts of Johnny Mercer discussing his music.  Special guests Rebecca Kilgore and Carol Woods perform classics from the vast Mercer catalog with The Jim Cullum Jazz Band.

Silver Shoes & Green Spectacles: A Jazz Interpretation of The Wizard of Oz
A listener favorite - The Jim Cullum Jazz Band and actor Vernel Bagneris return to the Emerald City with a script from the original L. Frank Baum book, and music from Harold Arlen’s legendary movie score.

Harlem to Hollywood: The Music of Harold Arlen
The Jim Cullum Jazz Band, with vocalists Nina Ferro, Carol Woods, and Becky Kilgore, presents the music of Harold Arlen, composer of jazz standards “Stormy Weather” and “I’ve Got the World on a String,” and more. Included are rare interview clips of Arlen speaking about his music.

“At the Jazz Band Ball”: Jazz Classics Live from the Stanford Jazz Workshop
Join The Jim Cullum Jazz Band – Live from the Stanford Jazz Workshop for a high-energy concert of traditional jazz classics from old New Orleans and 1920s’ Chicago.

Pianist Mark Levine           
Pianist Mark Levine is heard in an all Thelonious Monk program in a performance recorded at the Jazzschool on November 5th, 2006. This was part of a piano trio summit that also included Dick Hindman and Joe Gilman, who will also be heard this evening. With John Witala and Paul Van Wageningen.

Multi-percussionist and bandleader Ian Dogole
"Beyond All Limits - Honoring the Musical Legacy of the Legendary Trumpeter and Composer Woody Shaw"…Multi-percussionist and bandleader Ian Dogole with Hemispheres in a recording made at the Hillside Club, in Berkeley on May 8th, 2009, with Sheldon Brown, Harvey Wainapel, Frank Martin and Sam Bevan. Recording engineer:
Bruce R. Koball

Saxophonist and Educator Michael Zilber with the BIlly Collins Project
Saxophonist and Educator Michael Zilber with the BIlly Collins Project, an homage to one of America's best loved poet laureates, recorded at the Jazzschool in Berkeley on May 2nd, 2009. With John Shifflett, John R Burr, Jason Lewis and vocalist Andy Kirshner and poet John Ellis. Recording engineer: Lee Brenkman

Vocalist Inga Swearingen
Vocalist Inga Swearingen, recorded at the Jazzschool in Berkeley on February 28th, 2009.  With Jeff Miley, Britta Swearingen and Dylan Johnson. Recording engineer:Lee Brenkman.

Fess Williams' Royal Flush Orchestra
Lou McGarity Some Like It Hot

A Paul Whiteman Parade Of Stars 1921-1951 With Bix and Red, Tea and Bunny,
Millie and Billie and others

Enduring Echoes of Tommy Dorsey
Broadway Jazz Score from Running Wild

Big Bill Broonzy with Graeme Bell's
Australian Jazz Band
Django Reinhardt et Son Grand Orchestre de Danse

Erroll Garner
Erroll Garner was one of the most original, intuitive, and purely exciting pianists to emerge during the modern jazz era. Although he is perhaps best known as the composer of "Misty," Garner's significance as a jazz innovator easily rivals his status as a successful songwriter. His approaches to melody, harmony, and especially rhythm are as fresh and inventive today as when he first introduced them in the mid '40s. Interviewees include Steve Allen, Linton Garner, Martha Glaser, John Levy, Marian McPartland, and Dr. Billy Taylor. (Produced by Paul Conley)

Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery created the first new sound on jazz guitar since Charlie Christian revolutionized the instrument in the late '30s. His innovations such as his celebrated octaves, and his style of playing with his thumb rather than a pick continue to have an influence today. Wes also became a popular musician, whose later recordings sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
(Produced by Tom Cole)

Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was the consummate jazz singer. She could take any song and make it her own. She could re-work a melody, sing a lyric with impeccable diction, add her unique phrasing and embrace it with the raw emotional intensity of her life experience. All of the great bandleaders loved Lady Day: Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw. Billie's personal battles are legendary -- with a racist society, with men, with drugs -- and it was that pain that fueled her songs. But she worked at her craft, found her own voice, and inspired countless singers and musicians. This show focuses on Billie's music and its impact on jazz.

Thelonious Monk
The sound of Thelonius Monk is one of the most recognizable in modern jazz. By the "plunk" or "thunk" of a single chord, his piano and compositions are unmistakable. An original on and off the bandstand, he was the launch pad of bebop, and also created a body of work in its own orbit. This show celebrates Monk's lasting contributions, with help from his collaborators and admirers including drummer Max Roach, producer Orrin Keepnews, and writer Stanley Crouch.

American Icons: Dave Brubeck and Ramsey Lewis
A smooth pairing as renowned pianists Dave Brubeck and Ramsey Lewis take the stage for two rousing sets.  The 88-year-old Brubeck shows he still is the master of the 88s on Take Five, On the Sunny Side of the Street and Over the Rainbow.  Lewis’ gospel and funk tinged sound will lift you out of your seat with The In Crowd, Wade in the Water and more.

Ahmad Jamal
A legend among masters, Ahmad Jamal’s career has spanned half a century.  Miles Davis once asked his own pianist Wynton Kelly to “sound more like Ahmad Jamal.  Jamal brings his deft touch and perfect balance to the House of Swing to create space all his own.  With his trio, Jamal leads his signature Poinciana, Jimmy Heath’s Mellow Drama and his new composition Papillon.  And of course more!  We are delighted to welcome him to our stage.  Written by Andrew Rosenblum.

James Carter and Craig Taborn
Behold the highest levels of virtuosity when explosive instrumentalists – James Carter (saxophones) and Craig Taborn (piano) – exchange ideas in intimate duets at the Stanley Kaplan Penthouse.  Hear Carter’s jaw-dropping acrobatics on Don Byas’ 1944 Stomp, Oscar Petiford’s Tricotism, and Billy Strayhorn’s A Flower Is a Lonesome Thing.  Written by Simon Rentner.

So What About Eddie Jefferson?
Eddie Jefferson didn’t have a great voice, but he was a great jazz singer.  Twisting lyrics through well-known Jazz instrumentals, he created songs and a style all his own, transforming (James) Moody’s Mood for Love, Lester Young’s Paper Moon into Lester’s Trip to the Moon, and an infamous Miles track to Miles Davis Walked Off the Stage.  Jefferson died tragically in 1979.  vocalists Carla Cook and Allan Harris join pianist Eric Reed to honor the pioneer of vocalese.  Written by Andrew Rosenblum.

Daryl Sherman
Piano Jazz celebrates the centennial of songwriter and lyricist Johnny Mercer. Pianist/singer and Mercer enthusiast Daryl Sherman brings her sophisticated swing and witty charm to the show for performances of "Too Marvelous for Words" and "Jeepers Creepers." McPartland joins in on one of her favorite Mercer tunes, "Skylark."

Julian Lage
Guitarist Julian Lage is a true jazz prodigy. Discovered by Gary Burton when he was just 12 years old, Lage has since played with Herbie Hancock, Joe Lovano and Carlos Santana. Lage shows off his amazing technique and improvisatory abilities on "My Funny Valentine" before teaming with McPartland on "You and the Night and the Music."

Barbara Carroll
Pianist and singer Barbara Carroll was McPartland's second guest during the first season of Piano Jazz. Thirty years later, Carroll makes a return appearance to reminisce with her good friend about their experiences at the Hickory House and the Oak Room. Carroll gives a charmed performance of "Very Early" and McPartland improvises a musical portrait of her guest.

Bobby Short
The Piano Jazz 30th anniversary continues with an encore broadcast from the first season featuring pianist and singer Bobby Short. Short's unforgettable voice accompanied by his unique piano playing are on display as he and McPartland explore some of the lesser-known chapters of the American Popular Songbook with Ellington's "Shout 'Em Aunt Tillie" and Jimmy McHugh's "Where Are You."

The Hot Club of Detroit
The Hot Club of Detroit is a jazz quintet that takes its inspiration from the legendary gypsy-jazz juggernaut the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Guitarist Evan Perry follows in the footsteps of Hot Club originator Django Reinhardt, and he leads his motor-city incarnation of the group on two Reinhardt classics, "Coquette" and "Nuages."

SF Jazz Collective at Chicago Symphony Center
MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenon and seven top players convene on his arrangement of "Armaggeddon" by Wayne Shorter and music by trombonist Robin Eubanks, pianist Renee Rosnes, bassist Matt Penman ("The Angels' Share"), and drummer Eric Harland.

John Patitucci Trio at the Kennedy Center Jazz Club
There's an array of basses, guitars and drums onstage for Patitucci, Larry Koonse and Brian Blade, and an array of music by Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and Federico Mompou (1893-1987) of Barcelona.

Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette and Bobby McFerrin
The three creative spirits make the last stop of a nine-city all-improv tour at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo. McFerrin explains the game plan: "We walk onstage and start. Ninety minutes later we stop." We shape the highlights on this JazzSet exclusive.

Dee Dee Bridgewater's Red Earth: A Malian Journey at the Kennedy Center
JazzSet's host weaves griot songs and the blues with Malian musicians (on handmade instruments) and her jazz trio. Nina Simone's "Four Women" is a highlight. Georges Collinet from PRI's Afropop Worldwide is guest host.