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Ambrose Akinmusire says, "A lot of people think I'm an over-achiever, but I don't believe there's such a thing." With a warm yet assertive tone, the trumpeter leads a quintet at the KC Jazz Club in a concert recorded by JazzSet.

The news that Bob Dylan was making a Christmas album came as a surprise. Now that Christmas In The Heart has been released, with the announcement that all profits will go to charity, it's caused even more consternation, with commentators divided as to whether it's an earnest effort or one big put-down. Rock critic Ken Tucker offers his opinion.

North Hills, the debut album from the L.A. band Dawes, is hardly the first record in recent years to draw comparisons to the work of Crosby, Stills and Nash. But though Dawes evokes a certain amount of nostalgia, that's not the limit of the group's appeal. Taylor Goldsmith's evocative lyrics and the band's elegant indie-folk harmonies both stand out.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, stars of the hit 2007 movie Once, recently sat down with NPR's Melissa Block. Now performing as The Swell Season, they discuss their new album (Strict Joy), perform two songs and surprise each other with new revelations about a song's meaning.

NPR Music's Song of the Day features a new track every weekday, with analysis of the music, links to each artist's Web site and, of course, a chance to hear the song itself. Here, Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson talks about recent selections by Laurent Korcia, Tim Buckley and Smokey Robinson.

Norah Jones became an immediate star after the release of her 2002 album Come Away With Me. Having sold more than 36 million records, Jones decided to move in a different direction with her new fourth album, titled The Fall. Rock critic Ken Tucker says it's an improvement over her last two.

Radiohead shook up the music industry last week, when it announced that its new album would not be released as a CD, or as a download through iTunes. Instead, it is offering In Rainbows through its own Web site for whatever price each customer decides to pay — even nothing.

When Cash was 18, her father (you know him as Johnny) gave her a list of 100 essential country songs to help the budding singer-songwriter understand the music that came before her. After holding on to it for decades, Rosanne Cash has turned that gift into an album. This interview first aired on Oct. 5, 2009.

Fresh Air's music critic Ken Tucker's picks for the best music of 2009 include songs by Taylor Swift, Billy Currington and Michael Franti as well as albums by Loudon Wainwright III, the Fiery Furnaces, and Bob Dylan.

The centuries-old rhythm of Cumbia music evolved from African slaves and indigenous Colombians. But mutant strains of the genre have permeated the music scene in Los Angeles, from immigrant cantinas to Hollywood clubs.