For John Clayton, the gig was a complete mystery. He knew that Diana Krall would be on piano, but not who the singer would be. “They wouldn’t say who it was,” the Grammy-winning jazz bassist reveals. Because it was Paul McCartney.

Anyone who came of age in the 1980s can instantly visualize one scene when hearing the name “Billy Vera and the Beaters”: Michael J. Fox and future wife Tracy Pollan slow dancing to “At This Moment” on the TV sitcom Family Ties.

I’m not saying that trumpet player Leif Arntzen has been around a while, but he has a son, drummer Miles, who’s making a name for himself in the afrobeat arena. Nowadays, though, ol’ Dad’s been making his own mark in jazz.

Loving covers of popular music is a grand jazz tradition. From blues vamps to show tunes to popular song of the day, jazz musicians have explored the harmonic opportunities found in pop music.

Vimeo. Matt Parker’s debut album Worlds Put Together is appealing, but in an odd way. Perhaps that’s because on this record, the tenor and soprano sax practitioner is a paradox.

Taking a page from Cannonball Adderley, who had a remarkable ability to take the complex and make it feel approachable, Christian McBride’s new album is as relatable as it is intense, as ebullient as it is substantive.

Steve Miller says his next album will be “a really interesting thing” where the classic rocker combines jazz instrumentals with blues lyrics.

Steve Jenkins may be a bassist, but he’s seemed to have learned a lot from guitarists with which he’s worked, like, say, Vernon Reid and David Fiuczynski, in how to craft music around his chosen instrument and his style of playing it.

1989 Monk Competition winner Bill Cunliffe is a diversely skilled pianist who puts his range to use in a variety of settings, from Latin jazz, to fusion to fruitful collaborations of straight ahead jazz.

The sharp, agreeable Haymaker will be Noah Preminger’s first album since the last one Before The Rain (2011) catapulted the tenor saxophone master to the front ranks of today’s current crop of young lions.