The Montreal International Jazz Festival. We explore the history of The Montreal International Jazz Festival through legendary archival performances and personal stories from its founding artistic director, featuring Miles Davis, Diana Krall, Pat Metheny, and more. Plus the artists making their mark this summer.

Miles Davis @ 100, Ballads & Blues, Part 4: Blues. In celebration of his Centennial we present Miles in the company of Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette.

British singer/songwriter, Nina Clark and British guitarist Sam Dunn are a special pair. They can swing like mad, or break your heart on a jazz standard, then be equally effective in other stylistic directions from rock and pop to Country and soul. Sam and Nina’s CD Easy Loving celebrates the collaboration of Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass, and the unique character of this pair whose music continues to inspire and inform Sam and Nina their own unique duo.

Nehimah Stix Baker is one of the best young drummers working in Northeast Ohio today. Whether leading his Quintet or Trio, as he is on this program, Stix understands how to best leverage the kit to drive the sound he wants to achieve. For this performance, he enlists a couple of Northeast Ohio veterans, as Joe Lehman sits in on Piano and Steve Kortyka makes a guest appearance on Saxophone along with Bradford McGee on Bass. From June 19th, 2025 Daniel Peck is your host for the Stix Trio…Live at the Bop Stop.

Imperial Records, Part 10 - 1957. This week, we continue our Imperial series with part ten, focusing on Imperial's R&B releases from 1957. Fats Domino continues his hit streak as both "Blue Monday" and "I'm Walkin'" top the R&B chart and "Valley of Tears" stalls at #2. These 3 singles would also crack the pop top 10! Dave Bartholomew records a cult favorite about the Signifying Monkey and produces some great sides from James "Sugarboy" Crawford, Faye Adams and Chris Kenner. Blues shouter Roy Brown returns to the charts in '57 on Imperial with "Let The Four Winds Blow" and a cover of Buddy Knox's Rockabilly hit, "Party Doll." The line between R&B and Rock n' Roll is blurred as we keep those records spinning on part ten of the Imperial Records Story.

In honor of Father’s Day this weekend Jazz Night brings you the story of father-son saxophonists Mike and Julian Lee. We hear music from them at Jazz at Lincoln Center and get the backstory on the homelife that led to Julian's love of jazz at a young age.

Max Johnson 3. Described as “an intrepid composer, architect of sound and beast of the bass…”, composer, bassist, and improviser Max Johnson is one of the most prolific music makers in the jazz, bluegrass, improvised music, and contemporary classical worlds. Johnson has released nearly 20 albums and performed over three thousand concerts internationally with artists like Anthony Braxton, Geri Allen and Mary Halvorson. This performance features Neta Raanan on Tenor Saxophone and Eliza Salem on Drums performing selections from their 2024 album I’ll See You Again. From May 1st, 2025 Daniel Peck is your host for the Max Johnson 3…Live at the Bop Stop.

Coming Soon.

Award-winning journalist, music critic and co-creator/host of NPR’s Alt Latino, Felix Contreras has the widest range of music he adores of anyone I know. He’s an international ambassador of Latin music and art but can just as easily rhapsodize about his love for The Grateful Dead, jazz, and the Beatles and explain poetically how it all connects. Felix and I met at NPR in 2001 when Jazz Inspired was part of a show called, “Jazz Riffs” and Felix was the Executive Director of the series. Felix has been a dear friend ever since, and a tireless supporter of Jazz Inspired, so it was a treat and honor to finally have him on the show.

Imperial Records, Part 11 - 1957-58. This week, we conclude our Imperial series with part eleven, focusing on Imperial's R&B releases from the end of 1957 and the beginning of 1958. There's a new hit-maker in town as Imperial signs the young heartthrob, Ricky Nelson as well as other Rockabilly, Rock and Pop acts. Chudd begins to move the label away from Rhythm & Blues and that great New Orleans sound that brought the hits over the past decade. Fats is still able to chart and does so with gusto as "What Will I Tell My Heart," "Wait & See," "When I See You," "Sick & Tired" and "The Big Beat" all make the charts. Ernie Freeman scores one of Imperial's best-sellers with his cover of the Bill Justis tune, "Raunchy" and Bobby Mitchell records the first version of "I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday." 1958 is a great place for us to stop as we've covered Imperial's R&B heyday over the past eleven weeks on your source for the "soul that came before Rock n' Roll.