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Conductor, arranger and musical historian John McGlinn frequently stripped classic musicals to their roots by returning to original orchestrations and reinstating lost songs. McGlinn died on Feb. 14; Fresh Air remembers him with interviews from 1989 and 1992.

Firesight, the debut album from emerging singer-songwriter Jessie Baylin, takes its name from the pub her parents owned during her childhood. The CD evokes the classic pop and jazz tunes played at the pub and stands out as a fine first album. Baylin plays songs from Firesight in this session.

When Bill Callahan (a.k.a. Smog) came to KUT to promote the release of 2007's Woke on a Whaleheart, he brought members of Shearwater to back him up. His performance was hopeful, big and explicitly in touch with his influences.

The Houston-born pianist studied classical piano and was accepted into a select group at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance. To preview her concert on JazzSet, here's a performance of "Shall We Tango," recorded live.

In the first entry of the series What Makes It Great, pianist and composer Rob Kapilow uncovers the secret to the success of "Over the Rainbow."

British pop icon Paul Weller has described his new double-disc album, 22 Dreams, as "a year in my life." It tracks Weller's course through the changing seasons. The former frontman of The Jam performs his kaleidoscopic pop music in a session on World Cafe.

Singer-songwriter Tom Russell lives in El Paso-Juarez, which sits right on the border between Texas and Mexico. When he heard about the new wall going up between the two countries, he realized that all cheap labor on the border is done by illegal immigrants. So he wrote a song that asks an obvious question.

The Ting Tings' debut album, We Started Nothing, has propelled the British duo to worldwide fame on the strength of some of the catchiest pop songs in recent memory. The British duo layers together synths, powerful drum beats and catchy melodies in a session from WXPN.

The band formerly known as Alabama 3 strips down its roots-meets-dance sound with just two acoustic guitars and voices. The trio plays and talks about its Sopranos success song and plays a country death ballad version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

Joan Baez's sterling voice, the songs she sings and her commitment to society's underdogs have had a profound influence on American culture. Baez talks about her new record, Day After Tomorrow, and performs songs from the album at NPR's New York studio.