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Japanese bid their final goodbye to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday as a funeral was held at a temple days after his assassination that shocked the nation.

Charmaine Clamor grew up listening to Ella Fitzgerald in her native Philippines. So it's no wonder that her brand of jazz (dubbed "jazzipino") combines traditional Filipino instruments, languages and melodies with American grooves.

In the 1960s, the renegade saxophonist took children's songs, march melodies and gospel hymns and made them into powerful free improvisations. Now, he's being embraced by a generation of rock fans — and explored in a recent documentary.

When Panic at the Disco released its debut CD, its members hadn't yet graduated from high school. Three years later, Pretty. Odd marks the band's massive change from heart-on-sleeve emo-punk songs to Sgt. Pepper's-style rock. The group performs stripped-down songs in NPR's Studio 4A.

The daughter of famed jazz journalist and producer Leonard Feather first tried to make a career as a stage actress. That's when she started to translate her minor aggravations into song lyrics — and singing them.

Chris Gaffney, vocalist and accordion player for the Hacienda Brothers, died last week from liver cancer at the age of 57.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) made a musical splash Memorial Day weekend in a performance with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra; it was later posted in a video clip on YouTube. Alexander performed a few tunes at the piano in NPR's Studio 4A.

There are many gifted jazz singers, and there's no shortage of accomplished acoustic bass players. But 23-year-old Esperanza Spalding's new album features both her soaring, flexible vocals and the low-end thump of her double bass.

Scheinman is an in-demand violinist who's appeared with Aretha Franklin, Bill Frisell and Lou Reed. She also plays classical music with string quartets and orchestras, and has released many albums of instrumental jazz. But her latest album, Jenny Scheinman, features her singing.

Marin Alsop, meet Robert Schumann. The Baltimore Symphony conductor reconnects with the composer's symphonies, probing for a deeper meaning within this widely performed but still misunderstood music. The Symphony No. 2, Alsop says, traces Schumann's emotional frailty.