Jazz

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Alicia Olatuja, vocalist, composer and arranger. When you hear Olatuja…

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Ben Tankard, minister, motivational speaker, best-selling author,…

Jive-talking, jazz-loving "hep cats" from the 1930s and 1940s are the great-grandparents of today's hipsters. The interest of white fans in black music helped fill Harlem's nightclubs and prompted derision. Hipsters were criticized for being the equivalent of a "pretentious poet laureate."

“My life is music, and in some vague, mysterious and subconscious way, I have always been driven by a taut inner spring which has propelled me to almost…

Hank Mobley was a self-taught hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophone player whose sound was situated between that of John Coltrane and Stan Getz. As a…

Jazz singer, actress, dancer and activist Lena Horne began performing at the Cotton Club in her teens before moving to Hollywood where she worked as an…

Milt Hinton, known as “The Judge”, was the most recorded jazz musician in history. Over his extensive career he played on more than 1,100 sessions as a…

Horace Silver’s powerful and transcendent music pushed him beyond the label of jazz pianist. The composing and instrumentation of his quintet created a…

Singer, dancer, and bandleader Cab Calloway is often referred to as the “hi-di-hi-di-ho” man. His nonsensical sounds and improvised melodies made him one…

Ella Fitzgerald found solace in music and song. Discovered at age 17 in a talent competition, she went on to become the world's top female jazz singer for…