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.