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Spring Awakening is winning critical praise as a fresh interpretation of the Broadway musical. Based on a 19th-century play, the angst-ridden teen musical defies convention by dealing with tough topics and raw adolescent feelings.

Andy Trudeau offers his annual take on Oscar-nominated scores. A diverse, international lineup this year has him pleasantly surprised.

Antibalas' nearly 13-minute Afrobeat epic "Sanctuary" unwinds with a graceful, unhurried pace that ever-so-slowly builds steam with each rhythmic reiteration. Though the bassline anchors the song, Antibalas works in a marvelously subtle mix of other elements.

The Last Town Chorus is the musical brainchild of Megan Hickey, a singer/songwriter who plays and writes songs almost exclusively on lap steel guitar. The group makes music for in-between hours, when the world around you is eerily quiet, when you can't sleep but you can't wake up.

Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson's brilliant Power To The People was recorded in 1969, when jazz musicians were confronting the influence of rock and soul. Some had trouble, but Henderson wrote tunes that always sneaked a step or two beyond convention.

James Morrison's Undiscovered made him a star in his native U.K. last summer, and the disc's release here portends similarly big things: Mixing the smoky soul of Terence Trent D'Arby with the catchy crooning of James Blunt, the 22-year-old is nothing if not commercially viable.

Tom Manoff reviews the CD by violinist Joshua Bell called Voice and Violin. He says the CD explores some famous pieces in classical music — like "Song to the Moon" from Dvorak and Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" — that take on the lyrical play between fiddle and voice.

Two musicians — Argentinian accordion player Dino Saluzzi and German cellist Anja Lechner — have teamed up for the new album Ojos Negros. They begin their first U.S. tour on April 18.

Much of the material on Lucinda Williams' West was inspired by the death of her mother, as well as a bitter breakup. The album's heartsick "Are You Alright?" functions as either a post-breakup lament or a tribute to a lost loved one, or possibly both.

A Chicago-based blues legend, Clearwater has just released West Side Strut, his first original recording in eight years. Hear his contemporary take on original "rock-a-blues" style and left-handed guitar playing in this performance from WXPN.