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For saxophonist Dayna Stephens, serenity has been a key to dealing with a rare kidney disease. It's filtered into his playing and composing, which is on the upswing despite health challenges that drain hours from his days and thousands of dollars a week from his limited budget.

The great composer and bandleader was distraught over the 1967 death of Billy Strayhorn, his songwriting and arranging partner of 28 years. But Ellington took Strayhorn's passing as an impetus, born of necessity, to increase his own productivity. Here are five examples.

Many jazz standards are themselves about making lists. Here are five of them, including Louis Armstrong's take on "Let's Do It," Johnny Hartman's version of "These Foolish Things" and a classic reading of Jobim's "Waters of March."

The advent of bebop added a fresh sound to American music. It also added new voices to some metropolitan radio stations: the late-night jazz DJs who specialized in presenting this new music to their fellow hipster nightflies. Appreciative musicians often wrote them tributes like these.

Clarinetist and composer Ben Goldberg says his is an "instrument that at times responds better to the oblique glance than direct confrontation." He picks five players who have worked with the difficult horn, yielding unique and personal beauty in the process.

The jazz trumpeter who made his first recordings 50 years ago this summer might be his instrument's least appreciated giant. Perhaps the trumpeter of the 1970s, Shaw was an icon for the generation that followed, as well as an innovator on his horn.

As a fledgling classical soprano in New York, Norman went to hear singers like Mabel Mercer perform. She tells WBGO's Rhonda Hamilton that her study of jazz vocalists influenced the way she interprets songs — including operatic arias.

He was a soulful reedman, an amazing talent scout for decades and a bandleader of one of the country's most popular acts. Born in 1913, Herman led "Thundering Herds" that were both big draws and well-respected by the likes of Igor Stravinsky. Here are five recordings which still sound fresh today.

Celebrate the New Year from Blue Note venues around the world. The lineup includes The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Joshua Redman and Brad Meldau, Fred Hersch, Ron Carter, Buika and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Father-daughter duo Willie and Bethany Pickens, along with husband-wife duo Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes, played holiday favorites live at the Kennedy Center in Washington Dec. 10.