NPR Music

This installment of the Latin Roots series for World Cafe explores bossa nova music, guided by Latin-music expert Ernesto Lechner. Lechner grew up in Buenos Aires, where his parents' record collection consisted of classical records and a solitary bossa nova LP. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he was immersed in Latin music and subsequently became a music journalist, publishing several books on the subject. Lechner co-hosts the radio show Latin Alternative and works as a contributing writer for Rolling Stone, L.A. Times and Chicago Tribune.

In the first generation of bebop musicians, Ray Brown was king of the jazz bass. Today, the "go-to" jazz bassist is Christian McBride, so we were delighted to have McBride stop by the KPLU studios for a performance with pianist Peter Martin.

In this edition of Sense of Place's New Orleans edition, it's all about Treme. The HBO series sets in stark relief the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as it follows the stories of a group of individuals, many of whom were inspired by real Crescent City residents, or are played by local actors.

Man, talk about a dream team pairing. After some enticing rumors and teases of a potential collaboration between David Byrne and St.