JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater

Randy Weston was born in Brooklyn in 1926, and the late Ray Bryant was born in Philadelphia in 1931. (Scroll down the page to hear the late Bryant performing solo in the 1980s.) Together in New York City in the 1960s, the two pianists demonstrated the history of jazz in 40 elementary schools. They organized the Afro-American Musicians' Society with an Eastern Seaboard Conference at a Harlem church. As speakers, they brought in the labor organizer A.

The 52nd Monterey Jazz Festival in the fall of 2009 helped kick off the return of Return to Forever, the stellar fusion band from the 1970s — now a trio with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White on piano, bass and drums, respectively.

The 2011 Encuentro! Latin Jazz Festival at NJPAC takes place Oct. 29, and JazzSet will be there for Omar Sosa and the Gonzalez Brothers.

At the Newport Jazz Festival, we're visiting the Quad and Harbor Stages, where the first rows of audience sit snug up to the performer. With her understated style, love of the lyric and freedom, Gretchen Parlato makes that closeness work. Everyone leans in and listens.

In her 20s, Vancouver's Renee Rosnes received a Canada Council of the Arts grant to study jazz in the U.S. High-profile artists such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson (to name a few) gave her high-powered support. Blue Note Records signed and kept her on the label for more than a decade.