When Lionel Loueke and his trio auditioned for the Thelonious Monk Institute’s jazz-training program in 2001, they faced a daunting phalanx of judges: trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and keyboardist Herbie Hancock. The panel’s decision was unanimous, though. Loueke and company were accepted into the academy-and the bandleader ended up with a job, too.

When Coco Zhao started singing jazz standards in Shanghai in the mid ’90s, there were few experienced musicians to accompany him. But things have changed dramatically since that time, and the Chinese megacity boasts one of Asia’s fastest-growing jazz scenes-with Zhao as its brightest star.

Ndidi Onukwulu is somewhere in eastern Ontario, talking on her Vancouver cellphone while driving to a gig in Montreal. She has a bubbly, open spirit, even while thinking about gravestones.

What’s a nice indie-rock band like Ravens & Chimes doing at a jazz festival like Vancouver’s? Well, the simple answer is that the New York City sextet is opening for Edmonton dance-punk act Shout Out Out Out Out at the Commodore Ballroom.

To be a leading Cuban jazz pianist, you need to have taught yourself to play a range of contemporary postbop styles and you should have studied for many years at a rigorous classical-music conservatory. But what’s mandatory is that you feel the island nation’s traditional rhythms coursing through your veins.

Improvising musicians are like kids: nothing’s more fun than a playdate with a new pal. And that’s exactly how Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii’s ongoing musical collaboration with Tin Hat Trio violinist Carla Kihlstedt came about, thanks to their mutual acquaintance Larry Ochs. The Bay Area bandleader wanted both of them to collaborate with his Rova Saxophone Quartet during its 25th-anniversary celebrations in 2002, and while he was at it, he also decided they should play a short set as a duo.

Singing has long been a crucial part of Ryan Shaw’s life. The 27-year-old soul sensation from Decatur, Georgia, grew up in a devoutly religious family, and before he was in grade school he was already an enthusiastic member of the children’s choir at his local Pentecostal church.

Edvard Vesala, the late drummer and composer, was never properly appreciated in the English-speaking world-although in terms of his influence on Finnish music, it’s possible to think of him as a combination of Duke Ellington and Frank Zappa. Still, his music was entirely his own: a provocative mix of rock-inflected energy, avant-garde exploration, and soaring, sweeping compositional statements.

You can sell 35 million CDs, make the cover of every music mag under the sun, and have Hollywood courting you for major movie roles, but you're still not going to get people cheering for you every time you walk out on-stage. At least, not if you're Norah Jones, who opened for herself in an impromptu duet with songwriter M. Ward at the Orpheum on Thursday (June 28).

Sonny Rollins delivers a sax master class

Geoff Muldaur tells tales with his tunes

Next time you're asked if there's life after death, here's your answer: Yes–so long as you're a legend of jazz.

Titling his 1956 LP Saxophone Colossus was arguably an act of hubris on the part of Sonny Rollins. At the time, the emerging jazz star was a mere 25 years old, and although he'd already recorded with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, and the Modern Jazz Quartet, he was not yet a household name.