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Fresh Air's world-music critic reviews The Mande Variations, the new CD from Malian kora player Toumani Diabate. Diabate says he descends from 71 generations of griots, or traditional song-storytellers.

Half of the mostly defunct band The Moldy Peaches, Green has put out his fifth solo full-length CD. The album's genre-jumping and stream-of-consciousness lyrics make the title, a term for disarray, seem apt. But the songs are melodic and imaginative.

Madonna's new single, "4 Minutes," is an airtight, spit-polished production loaded with current stars, designed to send the message that Madonna still matters. Music critic Tom Moon reviews the pop icon's latest album, Hard Candy.

Sinatra, Streisand, Rosemary Clooney and Tony Bennett — even Fred Astaire — have all recorded their songs: The husband-and-wife team of Marilyn and Alan Bergman has been writing irresistible tunes together for 50 years. Alan Bergman has recorded an album of their songs with the Berlin Radio Orchestra; it's called Lyrically.

Rock historian Ed Ward reviews the new classic rock box set Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly. Hits from Elvis, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee light up this 101-track, four-disc collection produced by Rhino Records.

Hear a preview of the 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival, which includes Gerald Wilson's specially commissioned piece, Monterey Moods. Wilson and many other jazz luminaries, including Dave Brubeck, celebrate the festival's half-century mark this weekend.

Rapper Percy Carey, a.k.a. MF Grimm, has survived several murder attempts, including one that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He's got a new album, The Hunt for the Gingerbread Man, and he's just published an autobiographical graphic novel.

As the frontman for pop-punk band Fall Out Boy, Pete Wentz glories in remaking the rules. He playfully subverts gender roles to undercut homophobia by wearing eyeliner, kissing his male bandmates on stage and wearing girls' jeans, yet somehow makes it all mainstream.

Zach Condon is a young singer-songwriter who grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., but whose musical interests have looked abroad. His debut, which drew on Balkan gypsy music, was a surprise hit among Internet indie-rock cognescenti last year. His second set with the band Beirut is The Flying Club Cup.

In his new autobiography, Eric Clapton tells the story of his professional rise and his personal battles with substance abuse. In the first of a two-part interview, Clapton remembers the blues greats that influenced him as a young guitarist.