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Choosing one winner from all the incredible entries NPR Music receives each year is no small feat — but this year, one songwriter gave a captivating performance that rose to the top.

Trumpet player Roy Hargrove has two bands — one a straight-ahead jazz combo, the other a soul-tinged R&B band. Instead of choosing one or the other, he recently decided to release two very different CDs simultaneously.

Blending together an array of musical styles and influences, singer/guitarist Ben Harper has carved out an unusual and exciting 12-year career. Accompanied by his backing band The Innocent Criminals, Harper skillfully combines acoustic folk, blues, funk, soul and hard rock.

South African musician Zola's work is featured in Tsotsi, this year's Oscar winner for best foreign film. He is the country's leading kwaito artist. The genre is a mixture of South African pop, house music and Western hip-hop. Zola talks about his music.

The Canadian collective, now on hiatus, released a self-titled album to wide critical acclaim eight years ago. Hear the group perform songs from that record on this archived session of World Cafe from 2006.

NPR's Fred Child hosts Performance Today from Salzburg, Austria, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart. The celebration includes performances from the Juilliard Quartet and Shai Wosner.

A group of R&B and deep-house acts delve into Radiohead's music on Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads, producing a mesmerizing moment in The Randy Watson Experience's poignant makeover of "Morning Bell."

By the 1960s, the tango — born of a union of sin and salvation in Buenos Aires early in the 20th century — had become something of a ballroom relic. Now the sound of the tango is enticing a new generation, thanks in part to the musicians of the Gotan Project.

The Texas band Dynah draws on influences ranging from Mick Ronson and Johnny Marr to Radiohead. Wake, its sophomore album, represents a potent distillation of those influences — awash in atmospheric soul, with zero filler.

After a lengthy hiatus, World Party's Karl Wallinger is back in action. His new album, Dumbing Up, is filled with his trademark '60s-rock-inspired music. Allison Moorer just released Getting Somewhere, which finds her reaching for a wider pop-country audience.