The Art of the Story

On pop stardom, artistic identity, and learning to let go of what happens to your work.

Willard Jenkins speaks with saxophonist Ricardo Toscano at the Embassy of Portugal in Washington D.C.

Ahead of her September 30 album release show at The Pocket, pianist and singer Kelly Green talks with Leo Sidran about the lifelong pursuit of jazz, finding her musical family, and the Eastern philosophy that has taught her to put everything into her music and then let it go.

Ray Long chats with filmmaker Penny Lane about her new documentary Wild Inside, which chronicles the fascinating year-long NYC adventure of Eurasian eagle-owl Flaco after his escape from the Central Park Zoo.

Sullivan Fortner tells Leo Sidran about how he seriously considered becoming a doctor, and didn't choose music until almost the last possible moment.

Twenty-five years ago, New York’s jazz clubs went dark after the September 11 attacks. Some reopened within days. Others never recovered. A look at the musicians, clubs and institutions that kept the music alive.

Dave Popkin catches up with prolific saxophonist Joshua Redman at the 2026 D.C. Jazz Festival.

At a late-summer celebration in Central Park, Verve Records marked its 70th anniversary alongside SummerStage’s 40th season. From a new generation reimagining Getz/Gilberto to Samara Joy and Christian McBride carrying the jazz tradition forward, the evening was a reminder that musical history is kept alive by the people who believe in it — sometimes quietly, one person at a time.

The first Labor Day parade took place in New York City in 1882, but it didn’t get moving until a group of workers from Newark arrived with a band. Leo Sidran traces the musical origins of the holiday and considers the enduring question of musicians as both artists and workers.

Leo Sidran revisits a 2023 conversation with singer Samara Joy about her experience studying at SUNY Purchase

WBGO's Doug Doyle reports on the impact of the late Cassandra Wilson

Singer, composer, and producer Sofia Rei talks with Leo Sidran about “Folk and Futurism,” rediscovering tradition from a distance, and how her collaborators and students continue to influence the music she makes.

Willard Jenkins speaks with Joi Brown, Artistic Director of The Music Center at Strathmore.

Dave Popkin talks with Isaiah Collier about his new music from his EP Joy - as well as honoring and continuing the legacy of John Coltrane, on the centennial of his birth.

Willard Jenkins chats with 2026 D.C. Jazz Festival artist-in-residence Janelle Gill

Singer and composer Manuela Sánchez Goubert grew up between Bogotá and New York, where studying jazz eventually led her back to the folkloric traditions of her childhood. She talks with Leo Sidran about the value of seeing home from a distance, the connections between musical traditions across Latin America, and jazz as a shared language that allows those influences to meet and evolve.

Willard Jenkins chats with trumpeter Kenny Rittenhouse about his new album Anthem For The Elders as well as the upcoming D.C. Jazz Festival

As new jazz clubs open across New York, The Pocket is bringing live music back to the heart of Midtown. Co-founder Martin Porter talks about building a musician-first listening room, carrying forward lessons from the Jazz Standard, and why there’s no bar to shake cocktails during the ballads.

Ray Long reviews the latest record from singer-songwriter Jacob Jeffries (of Vulfpeck fame) entitled You Got The Right Idea

On this episode of The Art of the Story, WBGO's Doug Doyle chats with five-time Grammy winner Keb' Mo' about his new album "The Breakdown"

Leo Sidran talks to Ashley Kahn about his new book Days of Miracle and Wonder which explores Paul Simon’s unconventional creative process and the complicated cultural and political questions that surrounded the making of Graceland.

Willard Jenkins chats with Clay Fink of Washington DC-based live music production organization Transparent Productions.

Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart look back on the unlikely beginnings of one of jazz’s longest-running trios, from their early gigs at Augie’s on the Upper West Side to their new album, Rhombus.

In his annual birthday conversation with his son Leo, Ben Sidran reflects on aging, ambition, practice and the surprising persistence of a worldview formed long ago.

Dave Popkin has a wide-ranging and inspiring conversation with deeply thoughtful guitarist Stephane Wrembel.

Monty Alexander talks to Leo Sidran about his remarkable journey, the happy accidents and mistakes that led him, and why positivity is so important.

Willard Jenkins chats with Charles Rahmat Woods about his journey towards honoring his ancestry by learning the Choctaw language, as well as the jazz goings-on of Washington D.C.

Pianist Randy Ingram celebrates a lifelong influence on Sound Within, joined by Bill Evans alumni Joe La Barbera and Rufus Reid. The album reflects Ingram’s long journey to honor Evans while sounding unmistakably like himself.

WBGO's Doug Doyle chats with legendary songwriter and producer David Porter about his new memoir "The Soul Man"

Vocal trio Duchess is back with A Marvelous Party. They talk with Leo Sidran about their first studio album in nearly a decade.

Dave Popkin catches up with rising blues artist Harrell Davenport, still in his teens and already making big waves.

Tony Bennett would have turned 100 on August 3. Revisiting a 1992 conversation with WBGO's Michael Bourne, recorded just before his remarkable later-career resurgence, Bennett reflects on the songs, composers, and jazz tradition that sustained him throughout more than seventy years as one of America's great interpreters.

Christian McBride reflects on the Montclair Jazz Festival’s accidental beginnings, Montclair’s deep jazz history, the mentors who taught him to pay it forward, and the joy of introducing new listeners to the music he loves.

Mexican-born, Miami-raised singer-songwriter Andrea Bejar is part of a new generation of artists who built an audience online before taking the stage. Speaking with WBGO's Leo Sidran before her New York solo debut, Bejar reflects on growing up between cultures, finding meaning in lyrics, and how living between two languages has filled her songs with a sense of nostalgia and longing.

Ruido Tovar brings together two of Latin America's most inventive musical voices for a joyful exploration of cumbia's past, present, and future. Leo Sidran speaks with Camilo Lara and Eblis Álvarez about collaboration, cultural identity, and the enduring power of tradition to reinvent itself.

Ahead of his first Newport Jazz Festival as Artistic Director, drummer, composer and producer Nate Smith talks about how he got the gig, who he's excited to see perform, and what he hopes fans get out of this year's festival.

Flea recalls being a young kid and going with his mother to see Dizzy Gillespie perform, where an unforgettable chance face-to-face encounter with his hero was had.

WBGO's Doug Doyle chats with powerhouse drummer Cindy Blackman Santana about her new album "Coherence" and how working with jazz greats has changed her life

Leo Sidran and WBGO celebrate Janis Siegel on her birthday

Willard Jenkins talks with Herb Scott of Capitol Hill Jazz Foundation about thinking outside the box, to foster continued live entertainment in his home city of Washington D.C.