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It's funny how the best track on Do the Boomerang, Don Byron's tribute to legendary R&B saxophonist Junior Walker, gives James Brown's "There It Is" a makeover. Byron, arguably his generation's premier jazz clarinetist, covers James Brown on one of the year's zestiest jazz discs.

The title track from Ward's remarkable Post-War, this weary, trancelike spell of a song anticipates a moment of reckoning. It doesn't bring solutions or add to the rhetoric of grief — instead, the sleepy tenderness of Ward's voice, framed by pedal-steel guitar, offers an aura of consolation.

The Hold Steady is led by a very wordy, not-so-great singer named Craig Finn. The group's latest CD is Boys and Girls in America — a title taken from a line by Jack Kerouac. The line goes, "Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together." Critic Robert Christgau says that despite the band sounding a bit more like Bruce Springsteen, the characters are strong and indeed quite sad.

Elvis Perkins can't be accused of bowing down to folk-music cliches: His masterful songs are graceful and tender but never whiny or obvious, while Dylan, Cohen and both Buckleys linger as only slight influences. In "While You Were Sleeping," Perkins takes a poetic, meandering stroll through the tangled gardens of nostalgia.

Earlier this week, Oprah surprised her father by throwing him a surprise barbeque in Nashville. The event included a barber chair to honor his long career that included owning a barber shop.

For over 100 years, the composer's "Allegretto" movement from his Seventh Symphony has haunted musicians and music lovers. Once you start to listen, says pianist Helene Grimaud, you simply can't do anything else.

Danish musicians Philip Owusu and Robin Hannibal give "Caroline No" an entrancing makeover, capturing Brian Wilson's doleful melody and a gentle acoustic-guitar accompaniment in a cavernous electronic whirlwind, with stargazing bleeps intensifying the song's sense of isolation and grief.

Singer-songwriter Carmen Consoli's polularity can be credited to her combination of Sicilian influences and political awarness. Now, Consoli is taking on a different music market with the release of her first U.S. CD.

Tom Schnabel is in love with the work of choral composer Eric Whitacre. For a modern composer, Whitacre's choral music is surprisingly popular amongst those that perform choral music; it is rich and challenging. His recent CD is Cloudburst.

A highlight of Peter, Bjorn and John's forthcoming Writer's Block — a concept album about the trials and tribulations of relationships — "Young Folks" is a breezy, melancholic slice of infectious pop.