Giovanni Russonello

The music of this pianist, who played with giants like Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus and John Coltrane, can feel mysterious and private, but it rewards deep listening. Explore these 11 songs.

He roped salsa into conversation with jazz, rock, funk and even modern classical music. “A new world music,” one critic said, “is being born.”

Las contribuciones de Palmieri a la música afrocaribeña impulsaron el inicio de la época dorada de la salsa en Nueva York, y su larga carrera lo consagró como uno de los grandes cerebros musicales del siglo XX.

A master of the kora who worked with Herbie Hancock and Philip Glass, his career was powered as much by experimentation as by reverence for tradition.

Joshua Redman, Jack DeJohnette, Gary Giddins and more musicians and writers highlight their favorites from the “saxophone colossus.”

Explore the Windy City through tracks by Ramsey Lewis, Ahmad Jamal, Lester Bowie and the contemporary artists at the forefront of today’s sound.

With majestic anthems like “Killing Me Softly” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Ms. Flack, a former schoolteacher, became one of the most widely heard artists of the 1970s.

The instrument hasn’t always been a central player in jazz, but the best guitarists have taken up the challenge of finding their own way. Fourteen musicians and writers share their favorites.

Are the vibes good? These tracks by Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton, Roy Ayers and others, chosen by 12 musicians and writers, should convince you.

She was celebrated for both her playing and her love of the jazz community. “My life in music,” she said recently, “is the smartest thing I’ve done.”