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Tom Terrell reviews a CD of funk collaborations between Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, The Original Jam Sessions: 1969, and a companion CD called The New Mixes Volume One. He says while the 1969 tracks were fairly ordinary, the remixes are full of musical surprises.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews The Great Divide, the new CD by saxophonist Von Freeman.

Grammy-award winning keyboardist-composer Don Grusin pulled together 18 of the most respected musicians of the day to record an album that incorporates sounds from the jazz, pop and world music scenes. He recently had a conversation with NPR's Allison Keyes about the DVD of the group's performances, The Hang.

Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine reviews The Dirty South, the latest CD from southern rock band The Drive-By Truckers.

Host Liane Hansen speaks with Stan Ridgway, the iconoclastic singer/songwriter and former frontman for the early 80's new wave band Wall of Voodoo. Devotees of his two-decade solo career have described his songs as "four minute pulp novels" full of vivid characters from the American southwest. His new cd, "Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads & Fugitive Songs" is on his redFLY Records and available through his website, stanridgway.com. (12:10)

A new double CD called Sufi Traveler is the U.S. debut of a musician and DJ from Turkey named Mercan Dede. Music critic Banning Eyre has a review.

The young Malian-born singer Rokia Traore is reshaping her country's music. Producer Roy Hurst talks with Traore about her critically acclaimed third album, Bowmboi.

The Six Parts Seven are an instrumental band from Kent, Ohio. They combine the viola and lap steel with a traditional rock band's drums, bass and guitars. Guitarist Allen Karpkinski talks about marriage and living in the moment, themes on the group's fourth album, Everywhere and Right Here.

Sarah Bardeen reviews American Us, the new CD from the eclectic Latin band Los Mocosos.

Brenda Russell spent four years working on her latest album, Between the Sun and the Moon and the songs for the musical version of The Color Purple, currently playing at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. NPR's Tavis Smiley talks with Russell about the challenge of doing both projects.