NPR Music

There's no clear formula for why a new song catches fire at one of our partner radio stations. Sometimes it's a hook you can't get out of your head, and sometimes it's a tune's ability to distill a station's overall vibe into three sublime minutes.

We asked five stations to select a song currently blowing up on their airwaves and tell us why. For a limited time, you can download their answers — the results include new music from the smart Canadian pop band Metric, U.K. singer Lianne La Havas, folk newbie John Fullbright, funk collective Brownout and British pop group alt-J.

Whether it's learning saxophone in school band, taking Saturday piano lessons, or participating in a top-flight youth orchestra, there are tens of millions of kids in the United States learning to play instruments. Way back in 2003, Gallup pollsters figured that at least 84 million Americans play an instrument — and at least a third of those players were then between the ages of 5 and 17.

Clarence Penn is one of those jazz-trained drummers who prove too versatile, too accomplished, too good to have too much free time. He joined Ellis Marsalis' band when he was still in college; he's another graduate of Betty Carter finishing school. Since then, he's stayed busy touring with anyone and everyone — perhaps too busy to have put out a record of his own since 2002. That hopefully changes this year with the release of Dalí In Cobble Hill, an album of original music for quartet; we'll get a preview at the 92Y Tribeca.

After moving from Mexico City to the U.S. to study jazz, it didn't take drummer Antonio Sánchez long to find himself in the bands of international stars — folks like Pat Metheny, or Michael Brecker, or Chick Corea. It's easy to see why he's so busy; five minutes of watching him layer on polyrhythms will suffice. But he's got more than one talent: He also has a degree in classical piano, and has made a few records which show off his composing, starting with 2007's Migration.