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Host Liane Hansen talks to Raul Malo, the Grammy-winning performer and former leader of the country-rock band The Mavericks. He performs a few songs from his new album, Lucky One.

Monty Alexander not only loves jazz, but everything else. In fact, there isn't much music he doesn't like — blues, old pop songs, boogie-woogie, reggae, classical pieces, even cowboy songs. In a session with Jazz24, he even yodels when he talks about cowboy songs.

Piano Jazz showcases another bright young pianist, Jeremy Siskind. Having recently graduated from the Eastman School of Music, Siskind has already won several impressive competitions and attracted the attention of Piano Jazz's host. His skills have taken him to Japan and around the U.S.

Seeger was a leading figure in the 20th century resurgence of American traditional music and a noted field collector of rural Southern music. He recorded hundreds of musicians in their homes and local performing venues.

It's no secret that Cajun and zydeco music is all about sweat. So you can go to Louisiana for a summertime steambath, or you can bring a bit of the heat to you. Here are five songs guaranteed to get your feet moving, at which point the sweating part will take care of itself.

Leos Janacek's personal and powerful String Quartet No. 2 was inspired by the unrequited love he held for a much younger, married woman — and by the 700 letters he wrote to her.

Legendary pianist Hank Jones was one of Marian McPartland's first guests when she began Piano Jazz more than 30 years ago. Jones died earlier this year, but in this 2009 session, McPartland asked another of her favorite pianists, Bill Charlap, to take a turn on the host's bench to catch up with Jones.

With its German text and emphasis on consoling the living, Brahms' decidedly non-Latin Requiem was unlike anything that had come before it. Hear conductor Otto Klemperer's soulful rendering of Brahms' personal and rapturous music.

Bach's Goldberg Variations function not only as a brilliant investigation of a sublime theme, but also as a masterly compendium of style and a study in how to write idiomatically for the keyboard. Murray Perahia's recording combines energetic rhythms with seasoned musicality.

NPR's Melissa Block has been asking musicians about songs that conjure up memories of summer. For legendary New Orleans singer Aaron Neville, that song is "Ting-a-Ling," by the rhythm-and-blues group The Clovers.