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Over the past 14 years, some of New York's hottest young jazz musicians have worked for peanuts, just to have the chance to play the Argentine composer's challenging mix of Latin rhythms, classical structures and singable melodies.

Before it took over Latin dance halls worldwide, bachata arose from Dominican shantytowns as a kind of lower-class party music. Now, a recent CD and a series of concerts are bringing the genre's early acoustic tradition back into the spotlight.

After decades of producing solo albums, renowned American folk musicians Grey Larsen and Cindy Kallet have released their first collaboration, Cross the Water. Here, they talk about their musical partnership and their influences in traditional Scandinavian and Balkan music.

American and Brazilian musicians have been finding common ground ever since jazz artists turned to bossa nova 50 years ago. But the result has never quite sounded like Nation Beat's mash-up of Southern country and northeast Brazilian maracatu.

The genre-bending saxophonist with a ubiquitous tone has a new album out. Sanborn tells Scott Simon that the disc is partly a tribute to his early heroes of blues and soul: Ray Charles and his saxophonist, Hank Crawford.

Jennifer Haigh's new novel, The Condition, is about a girl who has a genetic disorder that stops her development just before puberty. The "condition" gives her family an excuse to resist facing each other and fall apart.

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn and Tad Kubler were both over 30 when they made the recordings that finally brought success. But with 2006's Boys and Girls in America and the new Stay Positive, the band has found its place as one of the country's best straight-up rock groups. The band discusses the influences behind its new album.

When he stood up in a South African courtroom during his treason trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela declared that he was "prepared to die" for his cause. As Mandela turns 90, a documentary studies the pivotal moment when he became a worldwide symbol of the struggle for freedom and democracy.

Before pursuing a career in music, Lee was a Philadelphia schoolteacher. Then he started going to open-mic nights with a car stereo full of classic R&B records. He recently brought his folky, soulful style to NPR headquarters for a solo performance.

Fela Kuti fathered the musical movement Afrobeat and its crown prince, 25-year-old Seun Kuti. The Nigerian singer is leading his father's band, Egypt 80. On his self-titled debut album, he's added some American influences but kept his songs sharply pointed and political.