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The soul star, his backup singers in The Hamiltones, and his band visit the NPR Music offices to perform "Amen," followed by three songs that have defined his career.

Banning Eyre reports on the legacy of Nigerian bandleader and activist Fela Kuti. Kuti came from a talented and educated family. He was educated in England and spent time in America. In the 1970's, his jazz and funk-influenced music challenged the political and military leadership of Nigeria. His lifestyle reflected his sharp rejection of Western ideas. Kuti eventually died of complications from AIDS. But his life is attracting new attention here in the US as his son Femi tours with a band, and a new biography by Michael Veal details his life. (12:30) Please note, Fela: The Life & Times of an African Musical Icon, by Michael E. Veal is published by Temple University Press; ISBN# 1566397650, June 2000.

Banning Eyre reviews the CD Gem Tones, Saxophone Supreme South Indian Style, by Kadri Gopalnath. Gopalnath heard a British marching band when he was an teenager, growing up in India. He loved the sound of the saxophone so much that he began to play it. Although the sax was not part of the South Indian classical music tradition, he tried to make the instrument fit in. Now, with a few minor changes in the set up of the sax he plays, he has been able to gain wide acceptance in the tradition for his innovation. (3:45) The CD is Gem Tones: Saxophone Supreme, South Indian Style by Kadri Gopalnath. It's on Globestyle Records, #CDORBD 097. Contact: info@amc.org.uk

Musician, singer, composer Olu Dara. In 1998 after over 30 years in the business, he released his first solo album, Olu Dara: In the World: From Natchez to New York. During the 70s and 80s Dara played in Art Blakey's band, as well as that of advante gardist Henry Threadgill and others. His 1998 CD blended the two worlds and the two sounds that influenced him most: his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi and New York City where he lives now. Olu Dara has a new CD, Neighborhoods. (ATLANTIC) (REBROADCAST from 7

Liane talks with Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah Harmer, who has released her first solo album in the US, You Were Here. Harmer performed previously with the indie rock band Weeping Tile and put out three records with them, but never thought of herself as a solo artist. All that changed when she recorded a collection of old jazz and country songs as a gift for her dad. It became the album Songs for Clem, which garnered her critical attention and a record contract. (NOTE: SARAH HARMER'S ALBUM YOU WERE HERE IS AVAILABLE ON ROUNDER RECORDS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HARMER'S ALBUM SONGS FOR CLEM VISIT HER WEBSITE AT www.SARAHHARMER.COM)

KT Tunstall is a one-woman band, literally. She plays and sings the multiple parts of her songs while using a machine to loop them in real time, making for a performance style that lends her songs an extra rawness.

Curtis Elledge, a research flower grower from Santa Cruz, Calif., presents a global selection of picks from the Dutch band The Ex to French "musique concrete" by Louis Sclavis.

Host Liane Hansen talks to Raul Malo, the Grammy-winning performer and former leader of the country-rock band The Mavericks. He performs a few songs from his new album, Lucky One.

The singer and guitarist found fame with a band that exemplified the psychedelic '60s: Jefferson Airplane. Years after living the life of a rock star, Kaukonen is returning to his roots — blues and folk music — on his new album, River of Time.

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with singer-songwriter Patty Griffin in Studio 4A. She and her band also perform songs from Impossible Dream, her latest CD.