JazzSet

Clayton Brothers at 2008 University of Michigan Jazz Festival
After the Los Angeles bassist John and saxophonist Jeff Clayton spend the day coaching eager students in snowy Ann Arbor, their quintet premieres arrangements of music inspired by other brothers in jazz.

Convergence at Dazzle in Denver
Convergence is six players together for nearly two decades in Denver and Boulder. The group includes veterans of Carmen McRae's trio and the Maria Schneider Orchestra. They release their latest CD, I Can Be There, at a New Year's Eve party on JazzSet.

Daniela Schaechter Quartet at the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center
Schaechter, born in Sicily and first place winner of a Kennedy Center Women in Jazz piano competition, features original music for her quartet with Alex Sipiagin on trumpet.

Dee Dee Bridgewater's LIVE! Red Earth -- A Malian Journey
The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC presents Dee Dee performing with her jazz trio and other musicians playing handmade kora, balafon, and percussion from Mali. Guest hosting this week is Georges Collinet of public radio's Afropop Worldwide.

Highlights of Monterey 50 -- Otis Taylor Blues and Gerald Wilson Orchestra
More music outdoors from the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival -- the festival's 50th. Bluesman Otis Taylor plays first, and then the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, up from Los Angeles, plays the commissioned piece "Monterey Moods."

Spanish Harlem Orchestra at the 2008 Portland Jazz Festival Pianist Oscar Hernandez leads a dozen great musicians in classic sounds of New York City salsa at McMenamin's Crystal Ballroom in Portland. Listen and dance!

Django Reinhardt Festival at the Kennedy Center Jazz Club
With tremendous spirit and technique, French musicians play in the Hot Club style of Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and Parisian violinist Stephane Grappelli.

Thielemans is the man who made the harmonica a jazz instrument. In a Brazilian-heavy set recorded at the 2005 Tanglewood Jazz Festival, he's joined by Oscar Castro-Neves, Airto, and pianist Kenny Werner. Now in his 80s, Thielemans still loves to play.

Hear the Concert

Esbjorn Svensson Trio at North Sea Jazz Festival
The Scandinavian trio of pianist Esbjorn Svensson, bassist Dan Berglund, and drummer Magnus Ostrum makes a long overdue JazzSet debut. Thanks to Radio Netherlands.