Music

The African guitarist and his international trio (drummer from Hungary and bassist from Italy via Sweden) have been performing together for eight years. Their latest album, Karibu, is an eloquent fusion of jazz and Afro influences.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Sounds So Good, the debut album by 21-year-old country singer Ashton Shepherd.

Gnarls Barkley is best known for its massive summer hit "Crazy," from 2006's St. Elsewhere. The duo's follow-up, The Odd Couple, meshes classic R&B with infectious hip-hop grooves and cinematic production. Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse speak with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about crafting their new album.

Chris Gaffney, vocalist and accordion player for the Hacienda Brothers, died last week from liver cancer at the age of 57.

Fresh Air music critic Ken Tucker reviews Trouble in Mind, the new album from country singer Hayes Carll. The 32-year-old Texan says his music is inspired by Beat poetry, Bob Dylan and singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt.

Actor-musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won an Oscar for Best Original Song, "Falling Slowly," in the film, Once. The movie, about two musicians who write songs together and fall in love, is out now on DVD.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Boo!, the new album from the band Was (Not Was). It's the band's first full-length disc since 1993.

Three years ago, journalist Steve Lopez met a homeless musician on skid row in Los Angeles. He soon learned that the man, Nathaniel Ayers, had once been a promising violinist, and that he had left the Juilliard School because of his struggle with mental illness. Ayers is the subject of Lopez's new book, The Soloist.

Fresh Air jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Jazz Pictures at an Exhibition of Himalayan Art, the new album from the Chris Byars Quartet.

Fresh Air's music critic reviews three new deluxe reissues on the Universal Music label: Elvis Costello's This Year's Model, Beck's Odelay and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Street Survivors.