Violinist and bandleader Jenny Scheinman plays jazz - Yes, AND folk, rock, gospel, and country music. She and her band stretch out in new music from 2024's All Species Parade, in-studio.

Sax player, composer, MC, and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin brings her wide-angled view of jazz to play some of her latest tunes, live, with her band, in-studio.

Igmar Thomas’ Revive Big Band can do it all – jazz, neo-soul, funk, blues, and hip hop - showcasing the deep roots of Black American Music. Igmar Thomas’ very large band plays in-studio.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Mary Chapin Carpenter plays her own re-imagined and rearranged songs from her some 30 years of travels, in-studio. (From the Archives, 2018.)

New York-based band Jarana Beat, led by Sinuhé Padilla-Isunza, draws from Mexican folk and Afro-Indigenous music. They play their cross-cultural celebratory sounds, in-studio.

Hear highlights from the 2024 Soundcheck Podcasts by Mexico City-based cellist Mabe Fratti; Norwegian punk cabaret sextet Kaizers Orchestra; Cuban big band Orquesta Akokán, and others.

Hear music performed in-studio by Georgia singer and musician Lizz Wright; the soulful mambo of Cuban band Orquesta Akokán; and the multi-reed player Shabaka (Hutchings), with his trio.

Hear music performed in-studio by Norwegian punk cabaret sextet Kaizers Orchestra; Mexico City-based cellist Mabe Fratti; and Brazilian pianist and composer Amaro Freitas.

New York-based drummer Matt Wilson's melodic playing has shaped many a bandstand, but at this time of year, he might be best known for his Christmas Tree-O. They play in-studio.