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The week of Thanksgiving, NPR Music producer Stephen Thompson completed a daunting task: He listened to nothing but new holiday CDs for an entire 18-hour drive. The trip yielded prizes and punishments, and even a minor Christmas miracle.

The organizer of NPR Music's Jazz Critics Poll says that as the pillars of the jazz establishment have splintered, there's new space for music at the edges of the genre to find recognition.

For a show that's never been shy about celebrating itself, Saturday Night Live was bound to lean hard into its 50th season. But the results were as mixed as ever.

Fun-loving, strong-willed bassist Christian McBride can play anything he wants, and he likes to "mess with the jazz fans." McBride performs with his band at the Kennedy Center in concert recorded by JazzSet.

Ray Charles was one of those rare musicians whose musical style blended many genres, drawing on jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, country, and rock 'n' roll, to create a unique and soulful sound. Hear Charles play "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" before joining McPartland for "The Man I Love."

Sunday is Father's Day. If you're a dad, congratulations; these songs are for you. If you're a son or a daughter, here's a list of dad-friendly jazz songs to let your father know you're thinking of him.

A Los Angeles funk band and a New Orleans icon transform a jazz ballad turned girl-group number into an irresistibly boogieable groove — on a soul label out of suburban Ohio. Yeah, sure.

With a muscular, mahogany-colored voice, one of the today's finest tenors sings his way through the hits and lesser-known operas by Puccini.

The Brooklyn rapper-producer's latest instrumental album is evenly weighted from front to back. There's never an off moment — or even a precarious one.

This #NowPlaying discovery of Semler comes to us from this year's Tiny Desk Contest.