Music

South African trumpeter and band leader Hugh Masakela has released more than 30 albums since his American debut in 1961. The concept behind his latest album, Jabulani, is deceptively simple. It's a collection of South African wedding songs with Masakela remembers vividly from his youth.

Bahamas is the stage name used by Canadian singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen, who put out his first album in 2009. His second album, Barchords, is a measured look at the end of a lengthy relationship.

In December, Columbia released a box set of the 19 studio albums Dave Brubeck's quarter recorded between 1955 and 1966. Besides familiar titles like Time Out and Dave Digs Disney, there were a host of all-but-forgotten albums. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a few of them are well-worth tracking down.

Springsteen told Rolling Stone that Wrecking Ball is "as direct a record as I ever made." It's also one of his most stylistically diverse, including elements of gospel and hip-hop as well as rock and blue. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the music "testifies to a bottomless ingenuity, invention and exhilaration."

Bentley has been releasing albums for a decade and has achieved substantial success. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the singer's latest album, Home, is an attempt to raise his profile to a new level, with mixed results.

The standards singer's new solo album, Strictly Romancin', explores the ups and downs of love. Russell sings several tracks from the record during this interview and performance.

McKenzie, half of the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, wrote five songs in the recent Muppets movie. "Man or Muppet" is nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. [extended cut]

A shorter version of this interview was broadcast on Feb. 13, 2012.

McKenzie, half of the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, wrote five songs in the recent Muppets movie. "Man or Muppet" is nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards.

Prophet has described his new album, Temple Beautiful, as a "love letter to San Francisco." Rock critic Ken Tucker says you don't have to be a Bay Area native to enjoy Prophet's melodies.

Like a comedian, the drummer knows something about offhand dexterity and split-second timing.

One capital of soul in the 1960s? Muscle Shoals, Ala., a fly-speck on the map which spawned some of the era's greatest recordings, via productions in Rick Hall's Fame Studios. Rock historian Ed Ward has their story.

Rock critic Ken Tucker says questions of identity and authenticity have come to dominate heated discussions of the singer-songwriter's music.

Now in his late 70s, the singer-songwriter has just released a new album, his first collection of new material in eight years, titled Old Ideas. Rock critic Ken Tucker says these Cohen songs work as both pop music and as prayers.

Stew's new album Making It is, in part, about his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and songwriting partner, Heidi Rodewald. The two musicians, who continue to work together professionally, also collaborated on the 2008 Tony-winning musical Passing Strange.

Owens mostly dresses Thelonious Monk's tunes for uptown wear -- Monk the Harlem jam-session swinger.

The band didn't have many big hits, but it helped define the music of its generation. With the release of The Smiths' complete works, rock historian Ed Ward looks back and tries to figure out what made the group so important.

Bandleader and producer Johnny Otis, who launched and then nurtured the careers of many of R&B's greatest singers, died Tuesday at his home near Los Angeles. He was 90. Fresh Air remembers Otis with excerpts from a 1989 interview.