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The band Fiction Family may be new, but its members are old hands at the music business. Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek collaborated on the new album. Ken Tucker has a review.

You probably haven't heard the band Freezepop on the radio. But if you've played the games Guitar HeroM or Rock Band, you've probably played along to its music. The Boston band spoke about playing for crowds and playing for Playstation.

Pianist Robert Glasper wrote the hypnotic "Enoch's Meditation" years ago, for his 2005 album Canvas. He conceived it as a tribute to his colleague, drummer Enoch Jamal Strickland, but reconditioned it in time for Inauguration Day 2009. Hear Glasper perform the repurposed song at the studios of WBGO.

The Chicago native was recently the runner-up on BET's Sunday Best. And with a new ministry, a new album and an upcoming appearance at an inaugural ball, her career in gospel music seems to be falling into place.

Brian Blade, a reed of a man, sits up straight at his drums, lifting a shoulder. Born in 1970 in Shreveport, La., his father has been the pastor of the Zion Baptist Church there for almost 50 years. The dedication that started in church has expanded in the Fellowship Band, which plays a second set from the Village Vanguard.

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement return for a second season of their music-driven comedy series, which follows two hapless New Zealanders trying to make it as a folk-pop band in New York City.

With three Grammy nominations, Tedeschi has built herself a reputation as one of the country's best contemporary blues musicians. She performs her soulful and hopeful blues in a session from WXPN.

Breaking away from the formula of his early work, 1994's The Diary showcases Scarface at a high point in his solo career. The Houston-bred rapper set his gritty angst against a backdrop of live instrumentation and laid-back tempos that made for a Third Coast classic.

Pianist Hod O'Brien is a stalwart bebop acolyte. Since emerging on the scene in the late 1950s playing with Oscar Pettiford and Stan Getz, O'Brien has earned critical acclaim and accolades from his peers. He joins host Marian McPartland and performs an original tune written for the occasion, "Clarion for Marian."

Doug Keith's debut LP, Here's To Outliving Me, is familiar but fresh. The New York native's songs are rooted comfortably in traditional folk and Americana, without being mawkish or treading into tired territory. This is largely because Keith's voice is so richly textured, backed by sweet harmonies and beautifully layered instrumentation.