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As part of our series about students and teachers, musicologist Bruce Nemerov describes the way that one song is recorded by several different musicians in different decades of the 20th century. The older musicians are teaching the younger musicians through the song "Sitting on Top of the World." We hear the song as recorded by Al Jolson, The Mississippi Sheiks, Howlin' Wolf, Eric Clapton, Bill Monroe and The Grateful Dead.

The Beatles' original producer George Martin worked on a Fab Four soundtrack to a Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas show, which remixed and combined various Beatle songs. Now, Martin and his son Giles have released a modified soundtrack of that production, an album called Love.

Are you starting to panic about holiday gift shopping? Never fear. Cultural concierge Jesse Kornbluth of Head Butler suggests some musical gift choices.

Musician Tony Trischka knows there's more to banjo than The Beverly Hillbillies. He has explored the banjo and its rich history, from African melodies to jazz fusion and classical arrangements.

The cliché about a catchy song: "It's got a good beat, you can dance to it." But things get more complicated when the beat is all there is to it. Two recent albums put the percussion front and center: Batterie, from Loop 2.4.3, and Global Drum Project, with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and tabla master Zakir Hussain.

Fred Katz wrote for film in Hollywood, accompanied Harpo Marx on piano and taught college anthropology, all as a high-school dropout. But that was after he played with the Chico Hamilton quintet — and brought the cello into modern jazz.

In the spirit of the gift-giving season, classical music commentator Miles Hoffman discusses the fine art of musical patronage. Composers from the renaissance to Beethoven to Copland have benefited from generous philanthropists.

Despite her troubles with addiction, British singer Amy Winehouse has soared to popularity and inspired a new generation of female singer-songwriters in the U.K. Young, female artists like Adele and Duffy have found success on the charts.

Few radio personalities openly embrace as much music as WNYC's John Schaefer, longtime host of New Sounds. This year, his favorites ranged from Osvaldo Golijov to Jamie T.

Over a 60-year career, Zawinul embraced many types of jazz, but came to define the style known as jazz-fusion with his influential band Weather Report, and its 1977 hit "Birdland." Zawinul died of cancer early Tuesday.