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Diane Schuur really belts out the jazz standard "September in the Rain." She takes that old chestnut about "leaves of brown" that tumble down and she heats it up, adding just the right hint of rue. Her backup, a pianist whose touch is both light and lush, is surely a George Shearing disciple.

Hugh Masekela devoted the prime of his life to the struggle of his lifetime –- ending apartheid in South Africa. Short in stature but great in presence, Masekela has that spark that continues to engage us. Masekela's band performs a concert at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival.

When trumpeter Charles Tolliver talks about his high-octane big band, he uses phrases like, "The key is in the ignition; we're ready to go!" It's a perfect connection to the theme behind his performance at the Detroit International Jazz Festival: "Music on All Cylinders."

Eliane Elias grew up listening to the music of jazz pianist Bill Evans in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Now an accomplished pianist and singer in her own right, she shares a small selection of her favorite trio, duet, and solo recordings.

In 1966, Mark Weinstein played trombone on Cuban Roots, an obscure but important fusion of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and jazz. Many years, many albums, and one Ph.D. in philosophy later, Weinstein's new album finds him playing the jazz flute.

Musician Jeff Healey, blind since the age of 1, taught himself how to play guitar seated with the instrument flat against his lap. The technique brought him to the attention of blues legends like Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughn, who introduced the Canadian to a worldwide audience. After two decades of exploring the blues (and later, jazz), Healey died of cancer March 2. Bass player and producer, Alec Fraser, talks to Noah Adams about his last collaboration with Healey, the posthumously released CD Mess of Blues.

Roomful of Blues has been around for 40 years, with a rotating cast of nearly 50 musicians. Trombonist Rich Lataille and guitarist Chris Vachon talk about playing for the people on the dance floor, writing songs and schooling the next generation.

Celebrated soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom — a pioneer, among other things, in the use of electronics in live jazz — has an inventively formatted new recording. Fresh Air's jazz critic has a listen.

Southern singer Lizz Wright crafts a distinct mixture of jazz, folk, gospel, and R&B, but she's been most widely celebrated as a rising star in the jazz world. Hear Wright perform a concert from WXPN and World Café Live in Philadelphia.

Some of today's best world music acts spring from the discovery of an obscure passion. For brothers Zac and Ethan Holtzman, leaders of the band Dengue Fever, it was 1960s Cambodian pop music.