Today, institutions of higher learning — high schools, summer camps and university-level programs — are an industry unto themselves, dominating formal jazz pedagogy. But before they arrived, many creative individuals had plenty of reasons to seek them out.

The trio presents Monk’s Dream: Fifty Years Fresh at the KC Jazz Club with Gary Smulyan.

For better or worse, jazz has been in a constant state of change since the day it was born. Hear from five contemporary bands which are forging new boundaries from an open-ended tradition, including Christian Scott, Kneebody and Henry Cole’s Afrobeat Collective.

The musician, who died Saturday, had a remarkably versatile career that fused jazz, folk and soul. Hear Callier’s 1998 appearance on World Cafe.

The jazz artist suffered from a condition that rendered his bones brittle and his stature three feet tall. But in the ’80s and ’90s, he still lived a full — if brief — life at the top of the international touring circuit, as captured in a new documentary.

The freewheeling saxophonist and his small group from the 1970s came together for a live concert in 2007 — their first together in more than two decades. Now, a recording has been posthumously released on CD, and critic Kevin Whitehead says it’s like they never went away.

A mid-winter episode brings out some big-name cameos, headlined by Fats Domino himself. Read a recap of the music, including soul queen Irma Thomas, sludge-metal standard bearer Eyehategod, singer-songwriter Paul Sanchez and clarinet professor Dr. Michael White.

The French drummer, who provided the driving beats on Peter Gabriel’s 1986 hit album So, is a sideman to the stars — and a composer in his own right.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Cables was the pianist of choice for saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper; Pepper called him his favorite pianist. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Cables’ new trio album, My Muse, is so unassumingly good, you could miss just how good it is.

Back-to-back, hear the innovative drummer and nine-time Grammy-winning vocalist perform at Newport.

With his ever-changing Fairgrounds band, the drummer gets to mix and match his favorite musicians. And when you’ve been tapped to play drums for Chick Corea, Ray Charles and Brad Mehldau, you get to know a lot of musicians. Ballard and a multi-generational band play live on Halloween.

In 1961, the great bassist and composer started a long residency at a club in Queens, N.Y., called Copa City. It was a period of bold artistic statements from Mingus. Now, a new box set of live recordings immortalizes that moment in time, and why it can be called a “titty.”

Christmas 2007 arrives on set, and some of the musical guests return home. Read a recap of the live performance scenes, featuring Joe Krown, Tom McDermott, Jonathan Batiste, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Red Stick Ramblers and Sharon Martin.

In 1964, a jazz great tried his hand at his own record label. A new seven-CD box set of live recordings from Charles Mingus Enterprises, much of it previously unreleased, is a monumental example of how a genius dedicated his life to his art. Hear a full 1965 concert recording from the collection.

He wasn’t a mainstream jazz musician, but the power of his vision for free improvisation won him acclaim from both the jazz community and beyond. The leader of a long-running quartet and a sideman to greats like Cecil Taylor, he was 62 when he died of kidney disease complications.

Reedman Paquito D’Rivera called him “the most beloved jazz musician in the world.” Naturally, a lot of fellow musicians are lining up to pay tribute to the man during a jazz festival named in Moody’s honor. Here’s a chance to explore their connections to the great saxophonist.

On Matane Malit, the singer and her group offers a transfixing balance of old and new, laying expansive instrumentation over traditional Albanian folk melodies.

Eubie Blake was the last-known original ragtime pianist when he appeared on the second season of Piano Jazz at age 93. On this program from 1980, Blake remembers his vaudeville days and writing the classic songs “Charleston Rag” and “I’m Just Wild About Harry.”

Intense, forward-looking music for dancing and dreaming, recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival.

A lot can happen in six years. For one young New York-based jazz trumpeter, losses in the family and gains in musical maturity were enough to inspire a new album, End of an Era. He and his band visited WBGO’s studios for this in-studio recording.