The Art of the Story

Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart look back on the unlikely beginnings of one of jazz’s longest-running trios, from their early gigs at Augie’s on the Upper West Side to their new album, Rhombus.

In his annual birthday conversation with his son Leo, Ben Sidran reflects on aging, ambition, practice and the surprising persistence of a worldview formed long ago.

Dave Popkin has a wide-ranging and inspiring conversation with deeply thoughtful guitarist Stephane Wrembel.

Monty Alexander talks to Leo Sidran about his remarkable journey, the happy accidents and mistakes that led him, and why positivity is so important.

Willard Jenkins chats with Charles Rahmat Woods about his journey towards honoring his ancestry by learning the Choctaw language, as well as the jazz goings-on of Washington D.C.

Pianist Randy Ingram celebrates a lifelong influence on Sound Within, joined by Bill Evans alumni Joe La Barbera and Rufus Reid. The album reflects Ingram’s long journey to honor Evans while sounding unmistakably like himself.

WBGO's Doug Doyle chats with legendary songwriter and producer David Porter about his new memoir "The Soul Man"

Vocal trio Duchess is back with A Marvelous Party. They talk with Leo Sidran about their first studio album in nearly a decade.

Dave Popkin catches up with rising blues artist Harrell Davenport, still in his teens and already making big waves.

Tony Bennett would have turned 100 on August 3. Revisiting a 1992 conversation with WBGO's Michael Bourne, recorded just before his remarkable later-career resurgence, Bennett reflects on the songs, composers, and jazz tradition that sustained him throughout more than seventy years as one of America's great interpreters.

Christian McBride reflects on the Montclair Jazz Festival’s accidental beginnings, Montclair’s deep jazz history, the mentors who taught him to pay it forward, and the joy of introducing new listeners to the music he loves.

Mexican-born, Miami-raised singer-songwriter Andrea Bejar is part of a new generation of artists who built an audience online before taking the stage. Speaking with WBGO's Leo Sidran before her New York solo debut, Bejar reflects on growing up between cultures, finding meaning in lyrics, and how living between two languages has filled her songs with a sense of nostalgia and longing.

Ruido Tovar brings together two of Latin America's most inventive musical voices for a joyful exploration of cumbia's past, present, and future. Leo Sidran speaks with Camilo Lara and Eblis Álvarez about collaboration, cultural identity, and the enduring power of tradition to reinvent itself.

Ahead of his first Newport Jazz Festival as Artistic Director, drummer, composer and producer Nate Smith talks about how he got the gig, who he's excited to see perform, and what he hopes fans get out of this year's festival.

Flea recalls being a young kid and going with his mother to see Dizzy Gillespie perform, where an unforgettable chance face-to-face encounter with his hero was had.

WBGO's Doug Doyle chats with powerhouse drummer Cindy Blackman Santana about her new album "Coherence" and how working with jazz greats has changed her life

Leo Sidran and WBGO celebrate Janis Siegel on her birthday

Willard Jenkins talks with Herb Scott of Capitol Hill Jazz Foundation about thinking outside the box, to foster continued live entertainment in his home city of Washington D.C.

As New York Voices prepares to retire after nearly forty years together, Darmon Meader looks back with Janis Siegel on the unlikely origins of one of jazz's defining vocal groups - and the role WBGO played from the very beginning.

A new jazz club in New York's Financial District is part of a surprising wave of venues opening across the city. Leo Sidran visits One Flight Up, where drummer Joe Strasser and his longtime friend and business partner Mark Quinn have turned a decades-old dream into reality.

Thirty years after Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? became one of the defining songs of the 1990s, Paula Cole reflects on writing, recording and ultimately misunderstanding the success of a song that never fit neatly into a category.

Willard Jenkins chats with Nasar Abadey, leader of the group Supernova, ahead of their 2026 D.C. Jazz Fest appearance.

Forty years ago this summer, singer songwriter Pat MacDonald released one of the defining pop songs of the 1980s: “The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades.” Today Leo Sidran considers the song’s legacy.

Long before Herbie Hancock became the musical giant he is today, there was a time when he too, like so many other musicians past and present, would pull all-nighters practicing for an especially crucial performance. In conversation recently with WBGO’s Pat Prescott, Hancock looked back on his formative years, landing the gig with Donald Byrd, and moving to New York City.

Dave Popkin catches up with saxophonist Jimmy Greene at the Saratoga Jazz Festival.

Leo and Ben Sidran reflect on 250 years of America, jazz being arguably one of America's greatest contributions to the world, and democracy both conceptually and in practice.

Aaron Diehl on curating 92NY's Jazz in July and the enduring echoes of Miles Davis.

Writer Heather Aimee O’Neill spoke to Leo Sidran about her debut novel and about how she knew it was time to come out of the shadows as a writer.

Herbie Hancock talked recently with WBGO's Pat Prescott about Miles, Wayne Shorter, and his upcoming NJPAC show. Here on The Art Of The Story, Ray Long presents the standout Wayne Shorter memory that Herbie shared.

Dave Popkin chats with rising vocalist and Saratoga Jazz Fest performer Tyreek McDole

Dave Popkin catches up with Chicago blues man Lil Ed Williams

Willard Jenkins catches up with the multifaceted Alex Hamburger - a musician as well as the managing director of CapitalBop, a resource for all things jazz in the D.C. area.

Leo Sidran chat with Patricia Nicholson Parker about the 30th Vision Festival, set for June 23–28 at the Abrons Arts Center in New York.

On this episode of The Art of the Story, WBGO's Doug Doyle chats with legendary festival producer Danny Melnick about the upcoming Saratoga Jazz Festival

Leo Sidran talks to composer and musician Arturo O’Farrill about creation, discovery and imposter syndrome.

Vocalist and educator Theo Bleckmann on why artists need community, how to "code the self," and why a life in music matters more than a career.

Dave Popkin talks with drummer Vince Wilburn Jr. of the Miles Electric Band. Wilburn performed with Miles Davis throughout the 1980s and is his nephew. He is also a co-manager of the Davis estate’s business, including new releases, collaborations, social media, merchandise, and other ventures.

On this episode of The Art of the Story, WBGO's Doug Doyle reports on the passing of South African pianist and NEA Jazz Master Abdullah Ibrahim

Food writer Melissa Clark talks to Leo Sidran about when a kitchen improvisation becomes a recipe—and how finding the right name can help bring it to life.

Vibraphonist Warren Wolf is one of the most accomplished musicians of his generation, but he never planned on playing the instrument that would define his career. Raised in Baltimore by a father who insisted he study music, Wolf spent years practicing vibraphone, drums and piano before discovering the joy of performance and finding his own voice. Today, whether he's making groove-oriented records like Smooth Vibes or revisiting ambitious works like Chick Corea's Lyric Suite for Sextet, Wolf continues to follow a philosophy shaped by a lifetime of listening: keep an open mind, avoid musical boxes, and let the music speak for itself.

South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe talks about his new EP with Chris Pattishall, 'Invocation'

Saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin has become one of the most dynamic voices in jazz. She tells Leo Sidran about one of her first professional experiences, and how the mentors, heroes, setbacks and aspirations that shaped her journey continue to inform her new album, We Dream.

Leo Sidran catches up with Zev Feldman, a man often called 'the Indiana Jones of Jazz'. Others know him as 'the jazz detective'. He prefers something simpler: a music fan who never stopped asking questions. “I literally search the world for previously unissued recordings of this music - America’s classical music."

WBGO’s Ray Long talks with Mikey Bar-Lavi, creator and host of the NYC-based “Sleeves” record club (‘like a book club, but for records…’)

After traveling to Spain to accept a surprising jazz award, Leo Sidran finds himself wrestling with an old question: what is jazz, anyway? The answer arrives later that night at Madrid's Café Central, where musicians and fans gather to sing an impromptu tribute to the late Sonny Rollins.

Dave Popkin talks with Big Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of The Rumble about his New Orleans roots, shepherding tradition into the future, and more.

Leo Sidran explores the newly unearthed treasure trove from the archives of photographer Steve Schapiro, a photo book entitled "Jazz" offering a priceless look inside the happenings of jazz in 1960s New York City.

Jimmy Jam of legendary producing duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis talks about his 50+ year career and legacy, and his new live storytelling event, Jamz & Conversation, happening June 4 at Sony Hall.

WBGO’s Dave Popkin catches up with The Nth Power to cover their new record “Never Alone” plus performing with Snarky Puppy and more.

On this episode of The Art of the Story, WBGO's Doug Doyle reports on the death of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins