Eric Dolphy’s creativity was exploding early in 1964, and he was finding more players who could keep up. Out to Lunch is free and focused, dissonant and catchy, wide open and swinging all at once.

Thanks to prohibition and trains, the Canadian city became known as a nightlife capital. A web documentary traces how Oscar Peterson and others emerged from the black neighborhood of Little Burgundy.

Danilo Pérez got his start playing piano with Dizzy Gillespie. The celebrated composer’s latest project is an ambitious one: 500 years of trade, exploration and colonization represented in music.

Growing up in Denver, Rudy and Shamie Royston dreamed about moving to a jazz hub like New York. After a few welcome delays to teach and raise a family, they’re beginning to pursue careers as performing musicians.

Though she’s only 16, jazz phenom Grace Kelly has already played with a host of jazz legends, including Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis. As if her early sax stardom weren’t enough, Kelly has recently begun singing, as well. She displays her vocal acumen in “East of the Sun” before showing off her sax skills in “‘Round Midnight.”

It may seem as if jazz recordings have slowed to a flurry, but it’s more like a blizzard, with dozens already coming down in the new year. Hear highlights from a few albums worth shoveling out, by Archie Shepp, Edward Simon, James Brandon Lewis and more.

There is something tender and specific about the ways elders like Frank Wess shaped their notes.