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Music critic Milo Miles reviews the new box set: Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers: The Complete Specialty Recordings (Specialty label).

Phrenology, the latest release by The Roots, mixes funk, hip-hop, jazz and soul. Critic Tom Moon says the album proves that hip-hop can be provocative without aggressive, in-your-face rapping. It's on the MCA label. See http://www.mcarecords.com/artistMain.asp?artistid=49

Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet sets out to record the complete solo piano works of French composer Erik Satie. The first disc in the project, The Magic of Satie, is now available. The musician talks with NPR's Liane Hansen.

James McMurtry's sixth album, Saint Mary of the Woods, has a lot in common with his previous work — depressed characters leading sad or lonely lives populate his songs. McMurtry thinks that writing about unhappy people is more interesting, so he's not changing his tune. NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with McMurtry about his career and the song "Choctaw Bingo," off the new album. Saint Mary of the Woods is released by Sugarhill Records. (8:45)

Host Tavis Smiley talks with Tony award-winning singer and actress Heather Headley, about her new album, This Is Who I Am.

Seattle percussionist and composer Bonnie Whiting speaks to the importance of independence and the close bond between voice and percussion.

Scott Simon talks with Panamanian singer-songwriter Ruben Blades about his new album, Mundo, which melds Celtic, Middle Eastern, African, Afro-Cuban, flamenco and jazz music. Blades is also a stage and film actor and was a candidate for president in Panama in 1994.

Hot Tuna began as a side project for Jefferson Airplane musicians Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen. Long after the band that made them famous broke up, Hot Tuna is still touring. Casady and Kaukonen talk with Morning Edition host Bob Edwards and play their signature folk-and-blues tunes. Exclusive to npr.org, hear full-length cuts of three songs, recorded live in Studio 4A.

Tavis Smiley interviews Clarence Fountain and Jimmy Carter, two of the Blind Boys of Alabama, about their CD Higher Ground.

Talking Heads' 1980 song pays homage to early rap techniques and The Velvet Underground.