As the old saying goes, "You have to go back before you can go forward." And that means you should learn the tradition of the instrument to gain greater knowledge and bring more depth to your playing.

Today's totally fun Take Five list by Josh features some of the stranger instruments to pop up in jazz -- everything from bagpipes to conch shells. But a quick poll around the office revealed that ...

Jazz is strange enough for some listeners. Dig a little deeper and it gets ever so bizarre. Throughout the music's history, particular instruments have risen to challenge of playing improvised music.

Picture the “default” jazz band we all imagine, then rewind history to see how that lineup was assembled by accident, technology, and American culture. We trace how brass valves, Civil War surplus, ...

The Texas Instruments Jazz Band is a full 20-piece big band consisting of saxes, trombones, trumpets, a rhythm section, and a vocalist. The band is organized through the Texins Association (Dallas, ...