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Don't know your Traviata from your Trovatore or your Otello from your Aida? Try out this handy cheat sheet — with music — to explore the greatest of Italian composers on the centennial of his birth. Hear his music and learn the unlikely story of his rise from a small town to international renown.

At 27, bandleader Trombone Shorty is already an icon in his hometown. So he's giving back: Through his own foundation, the "supafunkrock" brass player is nurturing even younger talent in local schools.

Costello joins host Marian McPartland and bassist Gary Mazzaroppi to perform "At Last" and more.

Fridays are funnier with a classical cartoon at noon, from Deceptive Cadence.

Professing love for Bob James' music can yield a side-eye in some circles, as his 1970s work is seen as a progenitor to smooth jazz. But he certainly knew his way around a catchy melody and an infectious riff — as legions of rap and house producers have discovered through sampling.

Now that we've avoided a financial cataclysm, here's a suitable playlist for some of the swirling emotions of the past two weeks.

The jazz legend practiced his saxophone 10 to 15 hours a day before he got his big break, and while he wasn't the most reliable husband, when it came to music, he never wavered. Scholar Stanley Crouch's Kansas City Lightning is the first of a two-volume biography of Parker.

Composer Phillip Glass, director Robert Wilson and choreographer Lucinda Childs discuss their epic modern opera, which is being staged for the first time in two decades.

The trumpeter and bandleader premiered his gospel-jazz Abyssinian Mass back in 2008. But now, accompanied by a 70-voice choir, he's taking the sprawling work on the road and into African-American churches — whose services were the inspiration for the piece.

Chicago bassist Matt Ulery writes beautiful music in an unpretentious way. It's intricate stuff, with interlocking parts and multiple sections, but it comes out sounding folky and simple. His small group, featuring bass clarinet and accordion, has it down pat.