WRTI Picks from NPR Music

With a career derailed due to severe hand problems, Amadie found a way to play the music he loved.

A guide to some of the most beautiful, thought-provoking and inspiring releases from the year gone by — from luminous choral singing to thunderous percussion to smart violin solos.

With six concerts spread over eight discs, Wood Flute Songs documents the bassist's exhaustive and creative live output.

In 1986, the iconic jazz pianist experimented with drums, bass and electric guitar in his home studio. Decades later, he's finally released the tapes. Reviewer Banning Eyre says that on No End, Jarrett seems to cherish rediscovering a side of his younger self.

Collective Cadenza, or CDZA for short, is a loose-knit group of musicians — many of them graduates of Juilliard. They've made a name for themselves with funny YouTube videos that have received millions of views. As a result, the group was invited to perform live at the inaugural YouTube Music Awards alongside Eminem, Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire.

Polish pianist Slawomir Zubrzycki has brought one of Leonardo da Vinci's lesser-known inventions to life. He spent almost four years building the "viola organista" — a unique musical instrument that looks like a piano but sounds like a quartet of string instruments.

A linchpin of "cool" jazz in the 1950s and '60s, he assembled bands that came to be described as chamber jazz, full of unusual textures and future star talent. Hamilton, who continued performing into his ninth decade, was 92.

Live at Carnegie Hall captures a riveting experience with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a beloved conductor, James Levine, who has been plagued with a variety of medical troubles.

Imagine you're a young composer having a piece premiered by the Boston Symphony — only to have the mood swing to unbearable tragedy. That's what happened to William Jay Sydeman, whose Study No. 2 premiered immediately before the audience learned of the president's death.

The intrepid champions of new music from around the world bring a lullaby, some rare blues and a recent work by The National's Bryce Dessner to the offices of NPR Music.