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For many, the autoharp is remembered as the slightly geeky, easy-to-play instrument from grade-school music class, or as simple accompaniment for folk and country singers. But Basia Bulat, who sings and plays the autoharp on Oh, My Darling, hopes the time has come for people to discover the beauty and potential in the instrument.

Brooklyn's TV on the Radio has always been a forward-thinking rock band. Its new album, Dear Science, is its funkiest, but in a typically complicated way. Sick of living with pessimism, the band has brightened its tunes and beats.

In the 1970s, the musical environment of Senegal was ready for a revolution; Orchestra Baobab delivered. Combining a variety of established popular styles, the legendary Afropop group shaped the region's style with an Africanized sound of indigenous instruments and language. Hear a session from WXPN.

Australia's The Curse of Company is the union of several musicians known primarily for their roles in other projects, including David Wiley Rennick of Dappled Cities. The band's first release, Leo Magnets Joins a Gang is a hazy, ethereal soundtrack for a rainy day.

Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of the busiest musicians around, complete with new recordings, new pieces to premiere and seemingly endless concert tours. But when she's relaxing at home in Germany, she lists Ella Fitzgerald and La Bohème among her musical favorites.

At the Rose Center for Earth & Space, the audience is full of children. Violinist Regina Carter keeps them busy with danceable music. The MacArthur Genius Grant winner plays music by Luis Bonfa and Edvard Grieg as well as her own songs. Pianist Helen Sung and her quartet open.

Composer Henry Mancini penned some of the most memorable tunes of the modern era, including the Pink Panther theme. On this episode of Piano Jazz from 1985, Mancini talks about his muse (the movie screen) and performs several favorites, including "Days of Wine and Roses."

Tokumaru is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Tokyo. With diverse tastes ranging from Brian Wilson to Sun Ra, he crafts arrangements that can come off like the work of Sufjan Stevens, complete with pop flourishes and wild freakouts.

When pop stars collaborated with African musicians in the 1980s and '90s, they embraced sounds once heard as foreign and exotic. Now a new generation of American musicians is creating homegrown rock music with a West African twist.

Mick Jones, former lead guitarist of The Clash, and Tony James, once of the Billy Idol-fronted Generation X, promoted their latest project by giving music away on the Web. They released their first CD in January.