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Multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers has sparked sessions by Miles Davis and Tony Williams, and he fostered New York's Loft Jazz scene of the 1970s. Now he's doing the same in the land of Mickey Mouse.

The Norwegian singer-songwriter's new album, Heartbeat Radio, draws from diverse musical and lyrical sources. Indie-rock and jazz both infiltrate his sound, while unlikely topics inspire his words.

Public radio's favorite cowboy poet, philosopher and former large-animal veterinarian lost his father at an early age. But Black has a vivid memory of being regaled by a certain song about a young cowboy at bedtime.

He has been making music for 50 years now. He played with bluegrass great Ralph Stanley when he was still in his teens, went on to have a streak of country hits and then went back to bluegrass. Now he's returned to the songs he learned from his father when he was a young boy in eastern Kentucky.

Backspacer is Pearl Jam's first studio album since the musicians became free agents, finally fulfilling a seven-album contract with Sony. That process took 15 years. The band is now on its own, striking distribution deals with major corporations, a turnaround for the once very anti-corporate band.

NPR Music's Song of the Day features a new track every weekday, with analysis of the music, links to each artist's Web sites and, of course, a chance to hear the song itself. Here, Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson talks about recent selections by Malcolm Middleton, Japandroids and My Morning Jacket's Jim James.

On its sophomore album, The Low Anthem offers an inventive and surprising survey of American folk and roots music, featuring everything from Appalachian ballads to full-throated bluesy stomps.

The title track of Kim Kashkashian's new CD, Neharot, Neharot, is a dark, impressionistic portrait of war and mourning by Israeli composer Betty Olivero. All Things Considered host Robert Siegel was "blown away."

What differentiated the Ramblers from the commercial folk groups was their interest in the music's origins. They were tireless chroniclers and ambassadors of vernacular music, the blues, bluegrass and Cajun music of rural America. Hear the entire first disc of the band's new 50th anniversary, three-CD compilation.

New Yorker journalist Andrew Marantz says Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's administration has rewritten Hungary's constitution to consolidate his power. U.S. conservatives are taking note.