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Gene "Jug" Ammons was one of the tenor giants of his era. He had a big, deep tone that was perfect for everything from warm ballads to groove-intensive blues or sweet swing. His prolific recording career has resulted in music that has withstood the test of time.

Leprechauns, parades and green beer—at least in this country they're the trappings of a successful St. Patrick's Day. But the soul of Ireland is found in its music. Belfast-born flutist Sir James Galway picks his Top-5 favorite songs for the holiday.

Wexler grew up hearing jazz, and after a while, she decided to try singing it. The jazz vocalist, noted for her versatility, speaks with Susan Stamberg about the songs on her new second album.

One of the best years for kids' music in recent memory includes releases from artists with feet firmly in both kid-friendly and adult-oriented worlds. Old favorites went in new directions, while emerging artists gave a glimpse of the future of a genre as diverse and unpredictable as kids themselves.

Want a great conversation-starter with a fan of Latin jazz? Ask, "What's your favorite pairing of conga and timbales?" Many long-standing percussion duos display seemingly telepathic interplay — the intensity of a runaway train mixed with the kind of swing that makes hips move by themselves. Picking five was a chore, but here they are.

This brutally efficient five-song playlist serves as a soundtrack for when you want to leave your house, hurry to an on-ramp, roar down a short stretch of highway, and abruptly take the next exit to your extremely nearby destination.

In 1983 Steven "Steinski" Stein and Double Dee created "Lesson 1: The Payoff Mix," a groundbreaking work that forced the music industry and the wider culture to begin to confront issues of sampling technology, intellectual property, fair use and creativity. The sampling pioneer speaks about how the art and legality of sampling has changed music.

Jazz musicians have long mined Broadway, the Great American Songbook, and even pop music for material. Here are five Latin interpretations of songs written by jazz musicians, a process that isn't as easy as playing the chords of a jazz composition over a mambo rhythm.

NPR listeners cast tens of thousands of ballots, but in the end, only a handful of votes separated some of the bands. See and hear what NPR listeners picked as the best albums of 2008.

Jazz is strange enough for some listeners. Dig a little deeper and it gets ever so bizarre. Some musicians take instruments from other traditions and make it their own. Some go for the big and bold. Others just invent. Hear the strange worlds of Cloud Chamber Bowls, the daxophone, mollusks and more.