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Changes in 2021 are happening in the world of jazz, with women leading the way: more inclusion of new sounds and people, greater access for audiences (thanks to virtual offerings) and increased social activism.

Jazz violinist Regina Carter teamed up with Grammy Award-winning producer and writer Kabir Sehgal to release “Swing States: Harmony in the Battleground” in July. Sehgal, a godson of civil rights icon Andrew Young and author of “Jazzocracy: Jazz, Democracy, and the Creation of a New American Mythology,” among other books, told the Banner, “Jazz is an anthem for democracy and has always been about inclusion.”

Lakecia Benjamin is a saxophonist impossible to categorize. Though best known for her work in jazz, she has performed with hip-hop musicians such as DJ Premier and Missy Elliott as well as soul stars Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys. A Manhattanite out of Washington Heights, Benjamin’s latest CD, released on March 27 of this year, is a tribute to Alice and John Coltrane.

Chucho Valdés, Cuban-born pianist and composer, is performing in a solo streaming concert through the Boston-based Celebrity Series on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. The performance, which will be prerecorded, features Valdés from the New World Center in Miami. Following the concert, there will be a live question-and-answer session moderated by Argentinian-born jazz journalist Fernando González.

Who is Immanuel Wilkins? Imagine being just 23 and at the top of your game with the jazz world agog at your skills as a composer, bandleader and musician, and you’ll have an idea who this young man is and what he’s doing.

Born and raised in Chelsea, Massachusetts, just over the bridge, Chick Corea is one of a handful of musicians of his generation to have shaped profoundly what younger generations compose, play and even think of as jazz.

Billy Childs, based in Los Angeles and usually found teaching at the Berklee College of Music each fall, has a new CD, “Acceptance,” out on Aug. 28, that is well-timed for the current crisis. The Banner caught up with Childs from his home in L.A.

Joshua Redman recently got his original quartet from 1994 back together to record “RoundAgain,” a CD released on July 10. The quartet features Redman on saxophone, Brad Mehldau on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Brian Blade on drums. The Banner caught up with Redman by phone in late July.

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, eminent scholar and youthful intellectual, brimming with ideas and a willingness to apply academic rigor to urgent matters of community, has arrived in Boston to become the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. The Banner spoke with Dr. Kendi in early July about racism and the arts.

Kamasi Washington, jazz saxophone player out of Los Angeles, is, at only 39 years old, the leading musician of his generation, because his work is fearless, without boundaries and of the highest levels both artistically and politically.

When not playing online gigs, here’s what jazz musicians are listening to.

Under the leadership of Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center recently announced that it is suspending all concerts, classes and public programs but offering, through its online portal, “consolidated access to all of the online activities we are offering globally, for free.”