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Back to Now, the reunion release from Patti Labelle and her partners in Labelle, finds their piercing mid-'70s sound fitting perfectly amid today's music scene. In "Candlelight," the seemingly nonsensical title even makes sense: It looks back while sounding as fresh and funky as ever.

In the U.S., the British folk scene has never been as well-known as its counterparts in rock and pop, but David Gray is changing that. For more than a decade, this wordsmith out of Manchester has been laying down album after album of bright folk music. Hear him in a session from WXPN.

Shearer's voice remains soft and gentle throughout "How Glad I Am," as her guitar strums the major chords that function as the melody's stepping stones. As the song builds in intensity, her voice gathers strength and fake strings chime in, courtesy of a keyboard. But Shearer's dark side emerges, too.

The band closed with a cover of Low's 1999 song "Just Like Christmas." Fanfarlo's members had practiced it all the way from Baltimore to D.C.

The noodle-obsessed chef's Momofuku chain has converted many New Yorkers to his brand of anything-but-instant ramen. Now Chang brings his recipe to the world in a new cookbook, Momofuku.

A crooning throwback to an era of music in which boy bands were likely to be wearing matching sweater-vests, Dent May produces an infectiously enjoyable sound with the help of His Magnificent Ukulele. A Four Preps song from 1958, "26 Miles" gets a good-natured makeover from May and His Magnificent Ukulele.

In a session from KPLU, blues guitarist Tab Benoit plays through a couple songs all by his lonesome, yet manages to conjure an entire band all his own. Benoit also talks about creating "Voice of the Wetlands," a group that raises awareness about the importance of Louisiana's natural resources.

The conductor says that his goal is for more people to appreciate and recognize classical music for its complexity, organization and beauty. In an interview, Ponti discusses his work, his son and the best way for a classical-music novice to discover pure symphonic joy.

The brooding dub-rock of South Africa's BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks) is a formidable addition to the musical landscape of indie-rock, with potential to appeal to the audiences enchanted by the likes of Vampire Weekend and TV on the Radio. PRI's Marco Werman interviews the band about their "post-apartheid" music.

After being barred from performing at Constitution Hall in 1939 because she was black, opera singer Marian Anderson gave a performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Author Raymond Arsenault's new book, The Sound of Freedom, reflects on the cultural significance of Anderson's performance that Easter.