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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 Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Kurt Elling and more.

With eight members — from hipsters and beautiful women to long-haired rockers and what look like everyday office workers — the Phenomenal Handclap Band has been painstakingly engineered to generate a big, bold sensory overload.

Astatke is a well-born Ethiopian who fell in love with jazz in the early '60s and has been making music ever since. His most impressive effort, critic Robert Christgau says, is his latest album Inspiration Information, which he created in collaboration with the British experimental funk musicians in The Heliocentrics.

The Hot Club of Detroit is a jazz quintet that takes its inspiration from the legendary Gypsy-jazz juggernaut the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Guitarist Evan Perry follows in the footsteps of Hot Club originator Django Reinhardt, and he leads his Motor City incarnation of the group in two Reinhardt classics, "Coquette" and "Nuages."

On Saturday, the Avetts brought their emotionally charged and frenetic live show to the Fort Stage at Folk Festival 50.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is a young 10-piece indie-folk group that has already earned a fevered following in its native Los Angeles, where its live shows have become legendary. With a percussive sound, an air of good-natured affection and lots of opportunities to clap and whistle along, it's one of America's most intriguing new bands.

Folk music's Mike Seeger was an adventurer who wanted nothing more than to share his discoveries. He found overlooked musical treasures, polished them off a little and wondered at them. He sought out undiscovered or disappeared musicians in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina — including Dock Boggs. Seeger died Friday at 75.

Monty Alexander not only loves jazz, but everything else. In fact, there isn't much music he doesn't like — blues, old pop songs, boogie-woogie, reggae, classical pieces, even cowboy songs. In a session with Jazz24, he even yodels when he talks about cowboy songs.

Legendary pianist Hank Jones was one of Marian McPartland's first guests when she began Piano Jazz more than 30 years ago. Jones died earlier this year, but in this 2009 session, McPartland asked another of her favorite pianists, Bill Charlap, to take a turn on the host's bench to catch up with Jones.

Leos Janacek's personal and powerful String Quartet No. 2 was inspired by the unrequited love he held for a much younger, married woman — and by the 700 letters he wrote to her.