Music

Akinmusire would rather fit into a cohesive band and spread the solos around than put himself way out front.

Saadiq has become one of the leading lights in the "neb-soul movement." Rock critic Ken Tucker says the singer's new album, Stone Rollin', broadens his canvas to take on other soulful styles, as well.

The Impulse jazz label, famous for its fold-out black and orange album covers, turns 50 this year. To celebrate, the label has released a box set featuring its early releases. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the set showcases the diversity and talent of the musicians Impulse recorded.

Over the course of 40 years, Iggy Pop has changed from a noisy brat with seemingly no chance at stardom to a widely respected founder of punk. A new box set, Roadkill Rising, collects many of his unreleased bootlegs.

Wainwright has just released an elaborate box-set career retrospective called 40 Odd Years -- and the pun in the title is definitely intended. Rock critic Ken Tucker says it presents the singer-songwriter just the way his music does, artful warts and all.

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is the first Beastie Boys album since the all-instrumental 2007 collection The Mix-Up. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the new record is fresh and vital because it sounds so old-fashioned and defiant.

Roy Orbison didn't really find his identity until he signed with a small Nashville label, Monument, in 1959. Ed Ward looks at the 17 singles that put him, and the Monument label, on the map.

The singer-songwriter's new album, Hard Bargain, includes a new song about her days with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons and a tribute to her late friend, singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle.

Since the 1960s, the electric guitar has provided a bridge between international folk cultures and modern pop music. An example today is the singer and guitarist Bombino from Niger, whose album Agadez contains currents of blues and rock, along with traces of African folk.

Saxophonist Tim Berne came up on New York's so-called "downtown scene" 30 years ago. That scene is known for postmodern jump-cutters like John Zorn, who'd leap from one style to another in the space of a beat. But Berne went another way; he's fascinated by gradual transitions.