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For the golden anniversary of the original cast album of Gypsy, Sony is reissuing the classic recording, which features Ethel Merman. Music critic Lloyd Schwartz sees how well it holds up.

There is no controversy surrounding Koko Taylor's title "Queen of the Blues" — she was simply the best. Taylor's 40-year career lasted until only a few weeks before her death. In this World Cafe interview from 1994, Taylor talks about how she got started as a musician, as well as about her love for and commitment to the blues.

For 30 years, the go-to guy for zydeco music has been Stanley Dural Jr., better known as Buckwheat Zydeco. In addition to featuring his own songs, his new album Lay Your Burden Down features songs by an eclectic group, from Bruce Springsteen to Jimmy Cliff to Captain Beefheart.

The jazz quartet Rudder is eager to amuse, but can also be as mournful and moving as a New Orleans funeral march. The band's latest release, Matorning, is a breath of sweet oxygen in an oft-stale instrumental scene.

Long admired for its rollicking jazz-funk grooves and sweaty solos, Soulive originated in late-'90s New England — first as a jam-band rhythm section and then as an unlikely hip-hop act. But in recent years, Soulive has settled smartly into more traditional organ-driven jazz. Hear the group perform live in concert from WXPN in Philadelphia.

Piano Jazz celebrates the centennial of songwriter and lyricist Johnny Mercer. Pianist-singer and Mercer enthusiast Daryl Sherman brings her sophisticated swing and witty charm to the show for performances of "Too Marvelous for Words" and "Jeepers Creepers." McPartland joins in on one of her favorite Mercer tunes, "Skylark."

The iconic record label celebrates its 75 anniversary in concert. Hear from Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner, Robert Glasper and Norah Jones in a merger of the company's rich history and bright present.

The saxophonist and composer has long been an standard-bearer for boundary-crossing music. From uptown Manhattan, Jason Moran curates a concert retrospective of his wildly creative universe.

Hear the CSO and its charismatic conductor Riccardo Muti in a program showing the muscle and subtlety of the of orchestra in music by Scriabin, Debussy and Mendelssohn.

Wallace Roney presents the lost large-ensemble works of Wayne Shorter, originally written for Miles Davis in the 1960s. Plus, music from Detroit native Regina Carter leads things off.