Jazz 101

These are the performances etched on every jazzbo's DNA. Who hasn't heard the late Paul Desmond's hella-cool counterpoint to Brubeck's stylish piano on "Take Five"? Or Gene Krupa's most-famous-ever drum solo on Benny Goodman's "Sing Sing Sing"? Or Billie Holiday's plaintive chorus to "God Bless the Child"? Or the laid-back Brazilian samba of "Desafinado"? This is the Great Hall of Jazz, to which everyone is welcome.

Maybe the best known of all big band classics, "In the Mood" represents one end of the spectrum, while Weather Report's "Birdland," with its fusion vibe, represents another. Cannonball Adderley deftly straddles the line between soul and jazz in "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy." And Norah Jones' massive Grammy-winning hit, "Don't Know Why," brings you right into the present day. See? Getting jazz isn't as hard as you thought it would be.

In the '70s, guitarist George Benson did just what pianist Nat King Cole had done two decades earlier: took his jazz chops and pointed them in a pop direction, to thunderous acclaim. On the other hand, Ramsey Lewis took a pop hit, "The 'In' Crowd," and gave it some jazz juju (and a second run up the charts). Even the Beatles (with Brad Mehldau's reading of "Blackbird") are game. And multi-dimensional genius Miles Davis gives you a stress-free point of entry to his diverse catalog with "Miles Ahead."

If you wanted to take a low-flying tour over the land of Jazz, this is the topography you'd see out the window. Charlie Byrd & Stan Getz on the beach, Cab Calloway in Renaissance Harlem, Artie Shaw or Glenn Miller at the Waldorf, Sarah Vaughan or Mel Tormé at a swank, uptown supper club, Cal Tjader or Sonny Rollins holding forth in the Bay Area. From such star-crossed artistes as Billie Holiday and Chet Baker to visionaries like Miles Davis and John Coltrane, our Jazz 101 playlist offers up tasty little morsels from all along the great smorgasbord of America's greatest art form.