Jazz pianist Eldar Djangirov, who goes simply by Eldar, is a phenomenon.  He says the first thing he remembers playing is the C-jam Blues although he was raised in the Russian classical piano tradition.  He was discovered playing at a jazz festival in Siberia when he was 9.  He and his family came to the states and moved to Kansas City when he was just 14.  His playing is full of brilliant technique and musicality  and his improvisation is full of delightful ideas from both jazz and classical.   Eldar is in town  performing this Friday night at The MIM and tonight he will com by  K-Jazz to talk about his music.  Hear Eldar tonight on the 9 O'clock special.  

  Dave Brubeck is best known for his hit "Take 5" but he has been a brilliant composer and band leader for over 60 years.  Tonight  Brubeck and his sons talk about life and music, and how his teachers encouraged him to study music.   Dave Brubeck tonight on the 9 O'clock special.

Thelonious Monk, along with Diz and Bird, created a style of sound that changed jazz forever.  His harmonic ideas took us out of the swing era and into modern jazz and the development of bebop.  Monk's unique angular melodies are instantly recognizable.  Learn more about jazz legend Thelonious Monk Monday night on the 9 O'clock Special

Art Tatum is not only jazz's greatest piano player, but he inspired many of the greats who came after him.  His brilliant improvisation and his facility and speed on the piano has intimidated generations of pianists.  He was mostly blind and studied music at the school for the blind as a child.  His ideas were so ahead of his time that his music still surprises you today.  Hear the monstrous talent of Art Tatum tonight on the 9 O'clock Special. 

 Ahmad Jamal has been recording his jazz groups since the 1950s.  His unique style inspired Miles Davis and he has continued to create new and exciting projects for over 60 years.  This Friday Ahmad Jamal plays at the MIM and tonight he'll be at KJZZ to talk about his music and his life as a jazz pianist. 

 Chick Corea and his new version of his band Return to Forever are performing this weekend at the Mesa Arts Center.  Monday night Blaise Lantana features Chick's music and gives away tickets to the show.  Hear the best of innovator and pianist Chick Corea on the Monday night 9 O'clock Special and tune in to win.

Pianist Bill Evans' impressionist harmony, inventive improvisation, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melody lines influenced a generation of pianists including Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett. A classically trained pianist, at first he played exactly what was written in the sheet, but  he learned to improvise by studying jazz recordings.  Evans played everything from boogie woogie to Beethoven piano concertos, but jazz fans love his trios and his work with Miles Davis.  Hear Bill Evans and learn more about his life and music  tonight on the 9 O'clock Special on K-Jazz.

George Shearing was the composer of over 300 songs!! He had multiple albums on theBillboard Chart during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.  Born in London in 1919,  the youngest of nine children.  Shearing started studying piano at the age of 3 and later attended a school for the blind where he studied for four years.  In 1947, Shearing emigrated to the US, where his harmonically complex style mixing swing, bop and modern classical influences gained him a huge audience and his first hit was "September in the Rain".  Hear the beautiful and unique style of George Shearing tonight on the 9 O'clock special

Pianist Mulgrew Miller played gospel music in his church and R&B and blues at dances. Mulgrew was constantly meddling in jazz piano, and established a trio in high school that would play cocktail parties. Miller is said to have set his mind definitely to becoming a jazz pianist after seeing Oscar Peterson on television.  Hear the bluesy jazz grooves of Mulgrew Miller tonight on the 9 O'clock special

Pianist Hank Jones played jazz for over 65 years!  He recorded 60 albums under his own name and many more as a side man with Coltrane, Cannonball, Ella and more.   The Jones brothers, Hank, Elvin and Thad were well known as a jazz family dynasty who brought dynamic ideas to the sound of jazz.  Hear the sounds of Hank Jones tonight with Blaise Lantana on the 9 O'clock special on KJZZ.