Bill Holman (Part 1) with Sonny Buxton
Starting in 1960 with the Charlie Barnett Orchestra, saxophonist, composer and arranger Bill Holman has enjoyed a fruitful career spanning more than 60 years. His commissioned works for television and famous artists include Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, The Dick Cavett Show, Count Basie and Maynard Ferguson.

Bill Holman (Part 2) with Michael Burman
Arranger, bandleader and composer Bill Holman has worked on countless important studio dates by Carmen McRae, Anita O’Day, Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme among dozens more. As a prominent big band leader based on the West Coast, he has won multiple Grammy Awards for his own productions.

Cedar Walton with Dick Conte
Celebrated pianist and composer Cedar Walton became an NEA Jazz Master in 2010 after 5 decades of excellence as a bandleader, writer and member of the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Many of his compositions such as Bolivia, Mode for Joe and Holy Land have become jazz standards.

Hiromi Uehara with Hiromi Uehara
The virtuosic and energetic pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara was a child prodigy at age 6 mastering Classical and eventually Jazz by her teens. Since making her recording debut in 2003 she has toured extensively appearing at world-renowned festivals becoming an international star.

Inspired By Injustice: Wynton Marsalis Reflects On His Music
Jazz Night in America presents an intimate conversation between host Christian McBride and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis. The two speak candidly about the past and present state of racial injustices and the role music plays in speaking truth to power. We also listen back moments from a recording of Marsalis' Pulitzer Prize winning "Blood on the Fields."

A Mambo Expedition In The Valley Of The Sun
A decade ago, "the world's only global musical instrument museum" opened in Phoenix. The Musical Instrument Museum, or MIM, now boasts almost 14,000 objects and instruments in their collection, with 370 exhibits from all over the globe - a testament to music's universal human truths. "We're doing the same stuff in different parts of the world," says Lowell Pickett, Artistic Director of the MIM Music Theater, "and we're using the same materials to make the instruments. We're using them to express the same emotions."

That borderless conviction also shines bright in the music of Orquesta Akokan, a Cuban big band. Formed by a couple of Americans, pianist Michael Eckroth and guitarist Jacob Plasse, the band is a living salute to mambo's mid-century heyday - the domain of legends like Perez Prado and Benny More. With a roster of Cuban musicians, including lead singer Jose "Pepito" Gomez, Orquesta Akokan plays new, original music in that style, with a balance of humility and pride.

We hope this episode leaves you with a dual admiration for mambo and the connecting tissue of the human experience through global music cultures. We'll hear about the MIM's massive collection with members of Akokan as our guide, as well as listen to highlights from the band's recent performance at the world-class MIM Music Theater.

'The Black Messiah' And The Legacy Of Cannonball Adderley
Cannonball Adderley was a mere 46 when he died, of a brain hemorrhage, in 1975. An alto saxophonist of robust intellect and irrefutable soul, he left a monumental legacy during his two decades in the spotlight - as a member of the Miles Davis Sextet, an exemplar of 1960s soul jazz and the leading avatar of a brand of post-bop modernism with popular appeal.

This episode of Jazz Night in America takes a fond look at that legacy, illuminating it from multiple angles. Guided by our host, self-avowed Cannonball fanatic Christian McBride, we'll hear from some of Adderley's former bandmates, like drummer Roy McCurdy and tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts. We'll spend quality time with Patrick Bartley Jr., a young alto saxophonist who has taken Cannonball Adderley's music and message to heart. And we'll pull the curtain back on The Black Messiah, a 1971 album that has come to be seen as a classic.

Newport Jazz Festival Pt.1, The Early Years
Over the next few weeks, joinJazz Night in America host Christian McBride for a special radio edition of the Newport Jazz Festival, with historic archival sets from Newport's rich 65 year history. McBride, who also serves as the Artistic Director of the festival, has hand-picked a dream festival lineup for the three-part program. "There's a goldmine here - a plethora of riches," says McBride of the music in the special - which includes scorching sets from the early years of the festival. In this episode, we'll hear Clifford Brown and Max Roach's group from 1955, a small group that was climbing artistic heights before Brown's untimely passing the following year; Dave Bubeck with a crowd-pleasing set in 1960, the year after his hit record "Time Out" was released, but just before the single "Take Five" made him a star; and pianist Horace Silver riding high from the success of his album "Blownin' the Blues Away" captivating the Newport audience in 1960.