Amina Figarova with Chris Cortez
Manhattan based pianist and composer Amina Figarova (originally from Baku, Azerbaijan) began her career as a successful classical pianist before her interest in jazz brought her to the United States where she participated in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Colony in Aspen, Colorado. For the last 20 years she's remained a dynamic force in the International jazz scene and has produced numerous imaginative albums and compositions with her husband and collaborator Bart Plateau.

Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini with Alisa Clancy
Trombonist and Vocalist Natalie Cressman moved to New York at age 18 where she studied at the Manhattan School of Music on scholarship. In addition to producing her own original music and recordings she has also worked with Peter Apfelbaum, Nicholas Payton, Wycliffe Gordon, Lettuce, Van Ghost and Dumpstaphunk. Most recently she's been collaborating and performing with Brazilian guitarist, singer and songwriter Ian Faquini.

Angela Wellman with Jesse "Chuy" Varela
Kansas City born trombonist Angela Wellman has worked with McCoy Tyner, Joe Williams, Al Grey and Slide Hampton among many others after earning her Masters degree from the Eastman School of Music. As the Education Director for the Oakland Youth Chorus she has helped develop award-winning music education programs while mentoring countless students. Her band, New Roots continues to perform spirited, contemporary music, creating new forms and styles rooted in the jazz tradition.

Terrie Odabi with Kathleen Lawton
Five-time Terrie Odabi has been a steady force in the Bay Area music scene for over three decades working in a variety of musical genres that include jazz, world and gospel. The Albany, Georgia born, Oakland based vocalist found her true calling in the blues in recent times and has been dubbed West Coast Blues royalty by Lee Hildebrand for her dynamic performances and magnificent voice that convey the raw emotion and feeling of the blues. She's been featured on numerous dates with jazz greats Jules Broussard, Ricardo Scales, Steve Turre and James Carter just to name a few.

Barbara Borden with Alisa Clancy
Master drummer and teacher Barbara Borden is a veteran of the San Francisco music scene who has worked with a variety of groups and artists who include Alive!, Linda Tillery, Rhiannon, Mimi Fox, Frank Martin and The Women's Philharmonic. Throughout her career she has been a leading proponent of healing through music and drumming collaborating with dozens of healers and artists at annual workshops and retreats.

Jazz Night in America goes to Baltimore

Turning the Tables
Whose faces would you put on a musical Mount Rushmore? The question amounts to a facile parlor game, but for the team behind the annual series Turning the Tables - an annual collaboration between NPR Music and Lincoln Center dedicated to recalibrating music history so that underrepresented, overlooked and hidden-in-plain-sight pioneers get their due - it opened up a set of possibilities as wide as a whole mountain range.

This year, Turning the Tables focused on music's "founding mothers," women without whose contributions jazz, blues, and myriad other musical styles would be unrecognizable: Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Maybelle Carter, Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Lou Williams, Celia Cruz and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

This week on Jazz Night in America, we examine five of those women: Bessie, Billie, Marian, Mary Lou and, of course, Ella.

Camille Thurman's Queens
On this episode of Jazz Night of America, we head to Queens with saxophonist and vocalist Camille Thurman. Camille grew up just ten minutes away from the homes of Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Fats Waller, and Illinois Jacquet - to name a few. We’ll hear her perform with the Darrell Green Trio and with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Linda May Han Oh
A musician who earned her stripes working with trumpeter Dave Douglas and guitarist Pat Metheny, the 35-year old bassist presents her Aventurine Octet at NPR studios in Washington D.C. Our episode tells her story and unpacks some of the volunteer work Linda and her husband pianist Fabian Almazan are doing to spread awareness about climate change.

Rene Marie
Rene Marie's actions speak just as loud as her words. On our episode, with music from Jazz at Lincoln Center, we get up close and personal with the singer/songwriter, who broke out as a professional artist in her 40s, and learn the radical impact of where and how she chooses to present her music.