From the heart of music madness in Austin, Felix Contreras shares the hottest new Alt. Latino sounds from SXSW Festival.

On his new album titled c.1300-c.2000, the pianist begins with a medieval song by Machaut and ends with an étude by Philip Glass.

As Mardi Gras approaches, the music of New Orleans is in the air. The band Galactic not only has a new album, Already Ready Already, but the members bought the legendary New Orleans club Tipitina's.

Scott Simon discusses a star-studded reimagining of Gentry's 1968 cult classic with two of its contributors, country artist Margo Price and Rolling Stone editor David Fricke.

Cash's latest album, She Remembers Everything, cuts a path through gun violence, sexism and the relentless march of time. "There's no point in hedging my bets about what I write about anymore."

For four decades the Oakland ensemble Kitka has sung intricate harmonies from Eastern Europe. Members Shira Cion and Kelly Atkins talk about the group's new album, "Harmonies of Heaven and Earth."

For decades, Cologne-based violinist Geoffry Wharton has played jazzy crowd-pleasing encores written in the 1930s by an obscure composer, Audrey Call. Wharton discovered a spooky connection with her.

When the violinist was just 17, a stunning Bach debut album launched her career. Over two decades later, she returns to finish up the set of pieces she started as a teenager.

A typical album from the Australian band The Necks may have only one long track — music that stretches out in a jazzy mesmerizing flow. Pianist Chris Abrahams talks about their latest, called Body.

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall share their love of George and Ira Gershwin with a new album, Love Is Here to Stay.

Former Guantanamo guard Steve Wood recently took a trip to Mauritania to visit Mohamedou Ould Slahi, the prisoner he watched for almost a year.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney have differing memories of who wrote the music for "In My Life." A mathematics professor has spent 10 years working with statistics to decide once and for all.

Virginia's Yasmin Williams is a captivating acoustic finger-style guitarist who incorporates cello bows and tap shoes into making her sound.

Brown University doctoral students Julian Saporiti and Erin Aoyama submitted an outstanding entry in this year's NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest. Together, they make up No-No Boy, the duo that presents the Asian-American experience through song.

Glenn Snoddy, who died May 21, invented the distinctive fuzz tone adopted by The Rolling Stones, Iron Butterfly, The Guess Who and more.

The Asheville band were the only ones of nearly 5,000 Tiny Desk Contest entrants to play in a convenience store. Lead vocalist Mike Martinez says that setting is more poignant than you might think.

One of the hardest-working drummers in the history of recorded music, Purdie has appeared on thousands of albums. He tells Lulu Garcia-Navarro that at least one of his iconic grooves was an accident.

Musician Quinn Christopherson shares the story of his original song submission for the 2018 Tiny Desk Contest.

Recorded live on stage at the Meyerhoff, Scott Simon joins BSO music director Marin Alsop and Leonard Bernstein's daughter Jamie for a conversation and musical celebration.

Wu Man is a master of the Chinese pipa, a lute-like instrument with a 2,000-year history. She stopped by NPR to talk about her fresh twist on ancient music and perform live.