"Blackroc" has what so many other rap-rock projects are missing: By using the same type of raw sound that so many hip-hop samples are after in the first place, Ohio garage rockers the Black Keys are able to create a hybrid record with an impressive guest list that includes Rza, Mos Def, Raekwon, Jim Jones and others.

Janet Jackson made a transformation in the ’80s and ’90s, from the girl next door to a pop music icon.   

After driving 4,000 miles to gigs this year, folksinger Debra Cowan is really looking forward to her 25-minute drive this evening to sing at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham.

"The Seventh Seal" is the sound of a veteran emcee comfortable in almost any setting, and even though things occasionally get a little sing-songy, it's easy to see what inspired many a kid to pick up the mic.

Talk to Mark O’Connor, fiddler extraordinaire and sometime collaborator with Yo Yo Ma, and you glimpse not only where music has been but where it’s going. And where it’s going seems to be a much more flexible, improvisatory, creative place thanks to exploding technology and the mingling of world cultures. O’Connor, his music and his philosophy will return to Peoria at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Boy loses girl, boy meets new girl, boy and girl make lovely love and pain-filled music.

It's a touching moment, increasingly familiar to fans watching the E Street Band make its entrance: As the audience howls in anticipation and the rest of the band stands at the ready, Bruce Springsteen gently and lovingly helps Clarence Clemons walk to his saxophone at the front of the stage.

Even with their excellent harmonies intact - and despite the loss of arguably their coolest member, bass singer Michael McCary - I really see no reason for Boyz II Men to be covering songs by The Manhattans, Cyndi Lauper (really?), Bonnie Raitt, the Beatles and (say it isn't so) Journey.

Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Rod Stewart tossed aside his pop-rocker image for a more subdued appeal for his albums “The Great American Songbook,” a collection that stretched from one to four album releases.

Jeonghwan "James" Kim hasn't devoted half his young life to practicing the cello to be rich, famous or even earn all A's at the prestigious Walnut Hill School. Instead, the 16-year-old South Korea native who won a $10,000 award given to "deserving young musicians" practices several hours a day for a reason as ethereal as his music.