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The Pine Leaf Boys, a twentysomething band from Lafayette, La., brings youthful energy to traditional Cajun music. The group stuck it out in the region after Hurricane Katrina by playing whatever clubs are open, and received a Grammy nomination for its second album, Blues de Musicien.

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock won the Grammy for best album with River: The Joni Letters. It's a complex record spanning several genres and encompassing diverse talents. Critic Tom Moon breaks it down.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the New York City rock group The Magnetic Fields' eighth album, Distortion. Front man and producer Stephin Merrit uses feedback between instruments to create distorted white noise — hence the album's title.

Inspired by Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian stars of the '60s and '70s, brothers Zac and Ethan Holzman created a fusion cover band — complete with a former Cambodian pop star who had recently moved to Los Angeles.

The sound of New Orleans Jazz is unmistakable. If you're in the Crescent City, there's one place you're sure to find it: Preservation Hall. A new, jam-packed box set celebrates the Preservation Hall Jazz Band master tapes that survived Hurricane Katrina.

Drummer Louis Hayes leads the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band in a musical tribute to one of the most popular groups of the 1960s. Hayes is just the man to revive the hard-bop tunes, as he spent his 20s with the legendary alto sax player. Hear the concert recorded by JazzSet.

The Grammy-nominated People Take Warning! collects historical songs of murder and disaster during a fertile era for blues and country music: 1913-38. With its cautionary title against the looming industrial age, these musicians took the sensationalism of calamity to song.

Fresh Air's jazz critic reviews The Irrational Numbers, the new album from improvisation-oriented bassist Drew Gress. In truth, he says, the numbers the band plays are less "irrational" than pleasantly unpredictable.

Safe Inside the Day is the latest record from transsexual harpist and pianist Baby Dee. The songs tell the many stories of Dee's life, including her stints in freak shows at Coney Island and playing organ at a South Bronx church.

Israeli export Anat Cohen is equally conversant in modern and traditional jazz, classical music, and a host of Afro-Cuban styles. The exciting tenor saxophonist and clarinetist joins a quartet with Marian McPartland.