Rene Marie grew up in the segregated South, and has become one of the few jazz singers today whose talent and devotion to social issues have both won her attention. Case in point: her personal take on the national anthem.

Guitarist Julian Lage is a true jazz prodigy. Discovered by Gary Burton when he was just 12 years old, Lage has since played with Herbie Hancock, Joe Lovano and Carlos Santana. Lage shows off his amazing technique and improvisatory abilities on "My Funny Valentine" before teaming with McPartland on "You and the Night and the Music."

The Fourth of July is a birthday party and the whole country is invited. And every party needs music. Whether meditating on America's landscape, its freedoms or the things about it that frustrate us, America is ripe for inspiration, as evidenced by the songs here.

Some of his best friend musicians call him Tooch. The extraordinary bassist John Patitucci comes to the stage at the KC Jazz Club in Washington, D.C., where an array of basses, guitars and drums await his tuned-in trio with Larry Koonse and Brian Blade. They're playing music from Patitucci's album, Line by Line.

Soul queen Naomi Shelton got her start in her Alabama church choir at age six. She would soon sing her way to the New York funk scene, filling night clubs with her soulful, jazzy style. Now, forty years later, Shelton has released a studio album, What Have You Done, My Brother?