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Notes from an unamplified double bass rank among the most beautiful man-made sounds; in jazz, the creator of those notes is always in the middle of the action, charting the harmonic direction of a band and plotting the rhythmic narrative as both an accompanist and a soloist. It's no small task, but here are five musicians who performed the duty with aplomb.

For all the jazz albums to be universally hailed as classics, many more deserve to be recognized as such. Here, arranger and Grammy-winning record producer Bob Belden picks five slept-on jazz classics.

The year was filled with new music from artists new to the jazz scene, and seasoned veterans adding to their discographies.

For many of his fans, Bob James is to jazz what James Brown is to R&B — the music and the musician go hand in hand. Now, with literally dozens of jazz albums under his belt, James is back with a classic piano-bass-drums trio. Hear full-length cuts from his latest CD, plus an extended version of his conversation with NPR's Tavis Smiley.

Welcome to Jazz24 from Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Our free jazz stream features some of the all-time greatest artists, like Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Dave Brubeck; as well as today’s top talents, like Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall and Pat Metheny. We also like to throw in some surprises from time to time, seasoning our jazz gumbo with blues, funk and Latin jazz. Start listening today!

Whether openly or covertly, all music types love this time of year. It's list-making season. Those of us behind the Take Five series wanted to get in on the act, too. So we asked WBGO, WDUQ and Jazz24 to share their top picks of 2008 with a couple more from the series curators.

WDUQ's Shaunna Morrison Machosky picks her Top 10 jazz CDs of 2007. All meet these criteria: The albums feature solid, engaging and interesting compositions, they're not simply collections of same-old jazz standards, and they're worth repeated listens.

WXPN's Blues Show host Jonny Meister counts off his 10 favorite blues albums of 2007, including harmonica player Bobby Rush, guitarist James Blood Ulmer and singer Marie Knight.

Looking back on the year in jazz, much of the focus naturally falls on young talents such as Vijay Iyer. Still, some of 2009's key records also evoked bygone jazz eras with such creativity that they might signal a new wave of New Orleans and Brazilian jazz.

Hip-hop and Jazz have enjoyed a long-standing relationship since the inception of hip-hop in the late 1970s. With both genres rooted in Black culture and tradition, the marriage of Jazz and Hip-Hop has given birth to a unique sound that has captivated music lovers worldwide.