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A widely admired virtuoso on the drum kit, Bellson was best known for his work leading and playing in big bands of the '40s and '50s. But over a career spanning seven decades, he also wrote more than 1,000 compositions. Bellson was 84.

Edna St. Vincent Millay, an American lyrical poet and the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, is the inspiration for Caroline Weeks' debut solo album, Songs For Edna. Struck by the beautiful imagery in Millay's poems, Weeks found that the music flowed freely when she picked up a guitar.

The itinerant troubadour, composer and performer of "Suzanne," "Sisters of Mercy" and "Bird on a Wire" has a growl of a singing voice that seems to simmer and grumble up through the chords, almost like an earthquake. His new album, I'm Your Man, has already sold a quarter of a million copies in Europe.

Hear and see video of the band, recorded live in concert from the Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3. This stunning performance includes songs from the band's new album, The Crying Light, as well as its 2005 breakthrough, I Am a Bird Now. Video of the performance is provided by Pitchfork.tv.

Nascimento's miraculous voice is one gift. Brazilian music is another — passionate and in an innately beautiful language. It's his birthday on Oct. 26, so we celebrate with last year's celebration at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, with Newark's Portuguese-speaking community understanding every word, the world-renowned Nascimento celebrates bossa nova pioneer Antonio Carlos Jobim.

The accordion has traveled the world, and its sound has been altered by every culture it touches. Music critic Banning Eyre says Argentinean Chango Spasiuk takes lowbrow music from the countryside and transforms it into sophisticated urbanite fare. He reviews Spasiuk's new album, Pynandi Los Descalzos.

Hear a preview of the Laura Gibson's Beasts of Seasons on this edition of All Songs Considered. Also Lily Allen and Morrissey, K'naan, Sufjan Stevens, Jason Schwartzman's solo project and The Antlers.

A new recording of Allegro, a 1947 musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein, has just been released on CD. Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President Ted Chapin joins Fresh Air to discuss the musical.

A winter chill in New York City couldn't temper the genre-blending group's mellow attitude and natural charisma. In a recent trip to WFUV's studios, activist and frontman Franti led his band into an interview and studio performance.

Utrillo Kushner is best known as the drummer for the neo-psychedelic rock band Comets On Fire, but he also heads up a different musical project: Colossal Yes. The band, based out of Oakland, Calif., features Kushner trading in the drums for the piano. It might seem like an odd move, but the transition is smooth for Kushner, who says he's played piano for roughly a decade now.