Happy-Go-Plucking

By Juli Thanki

Steve Martin, Sufjan Stevens, and Kermit the Frog all know it and you should, too: the banjo is hands-down the coolest instrument out there. [12 January 2009]

(more Torch & Twang)

Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko: Africa to Appalachia

By Deanne Sole

The kora, with its lacelike and intricate patterns of notes, is the more attention-catching instrument, and you could easily forget that this album is a partnership and start to think of it as a Mansa Sissoko project. [2 October 2008]