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Bebo Valdes left Havana 50 years ago, but at the piano, it's as if he's still there. He's not reviving anything; he just kept on doing it the old way, long after music in Cuba had moved on. On Live at the Village Vanguard, Valdes shares billing with his frequent duo partner, bassist Javier Colina.

Chrissie Hynde has gathered up a new batch of Pretenders — including the great drummer Jim Keltner — and wants you to know she's still up for some adventure, anger and lust.

The violinist has spent his life stretching the definition of classical musician. Here he describes his introduction to the violin and his collection of instruments.

The Washington, D.C., band These United States writes novelistic songs packed with dense narratives and loose, ragged-edged folk, rock and Americana. While Jesse Elliott is the main creative foundation, the group is known to rotate in any number of musicians it picks up. The band discusses and performs songs from its new album, Crimes.

As a member of the multiplatinum rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, Flea wouldn't seem to need higher education to further his career. But the bassist has just enrolled as a freshman at USC's music program. For Flea, it's an opportunity to learn the academic side of music.

Four Last Songs, by German composer Richard Strauss, is a song cycle marked by the awareness and acceptance of death. A new recording captures world-famous soprano Renee Fleming as she sings his last pieces for a second time — this time with a new direction.

When recording its latest album, Snowflake Midnight, Mercury Rev turned to publicly created and shared electronic instruments and software to create ethereal and deeply textured layers of sound. The band's members discuss their process of incorporating technology and losing themselves in music.

Rapper Snoop Dogg's latest release, a collaboration with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, is a recent example of urban desi, which blends South Asian pop culture with American hip-hop. Originating in the U.K., the style of music is spreading in the U.S. and India.

Local Colombian music permeates the soundscapes crafted by the band Aterciopelados. But what gives the group's music its universal appeal is something less tangible: a quality of dry-eyed optimism that proves both persuasive and reassuring in these troubled times.

The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter's new album, Little Wild One, tackles the subjects of post-Sept. 11 New York City and motherhood. Osborne discusses the record and how her new appreciation of New York helped provide the inspiration.