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Washington, D.C., is known more for suits than fun, but it also has a long history as a home to diverse styles of music — from Duke Ellington to hardcore to go-go — and some of the hottest guitarists to ever touch the fretboard: Roy Clark, Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton. Today, the city is home to an experimental music scene that's thriving under D.C.'s official radar.

Animal Collective is an experimental pop band that's cultivated an air of mystery over the past few years, as well as a passionate following. Will Hermes reviews the band's new album, Merriweather Post Pavilion.

News from Somalia usually involves violent warlords or pirates hijacking ships off the coast. Other than that, average Somalis don't have much of a voice. The rapper K'Naan is trying to change that, and in the world of hip-hop, he's become an artist to watch.

Alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, son of Indian immigrants, says he didn't think about his ethnic identity growing up. But on his new album Kinsmen, he and other like-minded South Asian American jazz musicians, fuse American jazz with a global sound that embraces the music of India.

George Tillman Jr.'s sketch of the life and death of the Notorious B.I.G. looks at how the Brooklyn rapper changed hip-hop. Corey Takahashi takes a look back at the man who would become Biggie Smalls.

The conductor says that his goal is for more people to appreciate and recognize classical music for its complexity, organization and beauty. In an interview, Ponti discusses his work, his son and the best way for a classical-music novice to discover pure symphonic joy.

He grew up with John Coltrane, gigged with Art Blakey and shared the silver screen with Tom Hanks. Now, on the eve of 80, illustrious saxophonist and jazz composer Benny Golson is re-creating his greatest ensemble: the six-person Jazztet.

He didn't see it coming when his sensitive crooning launched him to pop fame in 1996. But with one Tony Award-winning musical in the books and another production on the way, his work as a stage composer has put him in the spotlight again.

Pizzarelli is known as one of jazz's great chord soloists, as well as an extraordinary rhythm player. Now 83, Pizzarelli was recently honored by the New York Public Library as one of its speakers at the "Duke Jazz Talks," an interview series in which he performed with his son, John Pizzarelli.

She's best known for her original songwriting, but her cool, insinuating delivery is perfect for classics, too. She visits NPR's Studio 4A for a performance from her latest album, The Cole Porter Mix — plus a certain Valentine's Day standard.