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Because March 8 is International Women's Day, this week's Take Five celebrates six important women in jazz. Three exemplify classic artists who paved the way for women's work in a jazz world once dominated by men, while three are modern innovators.

Here's a chance for all baseball-loving jazz fans to get into the swing of the season with a few jazz songs that take their inspiration from the boys of summer. It's America's greatest art form celebrating the Great American Pastime.

For jazz musicians, playing at the Village Vanguard is a special event. To record there is a rite of passage. How can you not bring your best stuff, knowing who brought theirs before? Here are five notable glimpses into the world's most famous jazz joint.

Holiday's voice was unlike that of any other singer in her time, and remains unmatched in style. She never simply sang a melody, but made every song her own by changing phrasing, sharpening or dragging out diction, or adding a little drama to a not-too-dramatic tune.

In honor of FolkAlley.com's five-hour stream of Halloween music, Chris Boros selects songs appropriate for midnight strolls through the woods and extended vigils at your lover's grave site.

The secret identity of the electronic artist known as Podington Bear has been blown. Hear how it happened. We've also got music from the gentle-voiced singer, Doveman. He turns the dance-pop song "Let's Hear It For The Boy," from the Footloose soundtrack, into a slow dirge. Also on the show: Tilly and the Wall, a baroque viola piece, Teddy Thompson, the gifted son of Richard and Linda Thompson, Swedish singer Sarah Assbring, also known as El Perro Del Mar, and a nearly flawless new album from Germany's 20-year rock veterans, The Notwist.

This year proved once again that folk music is alive and thriving in all its forms: Americana, bluegrass, Celtic, country, blues, world and so on. Our top picks for 2008 not only illustrate the rich mix of folk music heard every day at FolkAlley.com, but also showcase the genre's ongoing diversity and vitality.

This year, the 10 best blues albums feature many younger artists who play original music; their work is rooted in the blues but headed somewhere else. Some purists may be put off, but this is a fascinating moment, in which the music is evolving right in front of us. It's also a demonstration of how deeply blues has become embedded in our culture.

As a member of Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore has not only been influential to others, but he's also been instrumental in sharing his musical loves. Moore has always had an ear for challenging sounds; here, he shares his favorite acoustic guitarists on World Cafe.

While American hitmakers like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift climbed the British charts in 2009, here in the U.S., we saw a serious influx of great music from the U.K. You wouldn't necessarily call these bands chart-toppers, either here or there, but they do add up to something resembling a British Invasion.