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He was a child star, an international icon, a running late-night talk show joke. But in his prime, his overbearing talent and ambition made him a musical genius. He was 50 years old when he died.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Patterson Hood's new album Murdering Oscar and Other Love Songs. It's Hood's second solo album featuring songs from the early 90's as well as some more recent ones, all of them have been freshly recorded over the past few years.

Soul queen Naomi Shelton got her start in her Alabama church choir at age six. She would soon sing her way to the New York funk scene, filling night clubs with her soulful, jazzy style. Now, forty years later, Shelton has released a studio album, What Have You Done, My Brother?

The guitarist shows off his amazing technique and improvisational abilities in "My Funny Valentine."

Hombre Lobo is the first studio album in five years by the act known as Eels. Frontman Mark Oliver Everett — better known to his fans as "E" — turns in what he calls "12 songs of desire."

In this session, saxophonist JD Allen performs songs from Shine, his second consecutive trio recording featuring bassist Gregg August and drummer Rudy Royston. The songs all feature Allen's calling card: a forceful tenor saxophone that blows mightily.

NPR's Melissa Block has been asking musicians about songs that conjure up memories of summer. For legendary New Orleans singer Aaron Neville, that song is "Ting-a-Ling," by the rhythm-and-blues group The Clovers.

Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard is a throwback to the socially engaged jazzman of the 1960s: He's as wrapped up in politics and society as he is in scales and improvisation. His new album, Choices, ponders questions about free will and personal responsibility.

Thanks to some nimble engineering, Armstrong has a new song coming out, complete with a backing track from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Engineer Earl Scioneaux III tells Gwen Thompkins just how he achieved this trick of time.

The Dante Quartet's performances of the Debussy and Ravel string quartets are etched more than most, as if they'd used fine brush strokes to carve musical shapes, rather than broad strokes that would create more wash of the musical colors.