Musicians in Their Own Words

Colombian emigre Edmar Castaneda came to the U.S. as a teenager and fell in love with the music of Charlie Parker and Chick Corea. So he decided to use a traditional instrument of Colombia's cowboys to play his own form of pan-Latin jazz.

Levy's house in Evanston, Ill., is filled with musical instruments: ocarinas, keyboards, percussion and especially harmonicas. When he was just a teenager, Levy took a regular dime-store harmonica and figured out how to play a full chromatic scale. Today, Levy is still using his instrument of choice to break musical boundaries.

Ljova is wired like an independent musician, in spite of his old-school instrument. He Skypes. He blogs. He posts music on Facebook and YouTube. And he composes by playing his viola into the computer, overdubbing and improvising the parts as he goes.

From his childhood relationship with violinist Yehudi Menuhin to his collaborations with The Police, Beaux Arts Trio and sitar player Gaurav Mazumdar, Hope has spent his life stretching the definition of classical musician. In an interview for the "Musicians in Their Own Words" series, he describes his introduction to the violin and his collection of instruments.

Conan plays an instrument called a cuatro with Chicha Libre, a band that pays tribute to the classic Peruvian Chicha groups of 40 years ago. Here, he talks about how he got hooked on the rollicking groove of Chicha. Conan says that the way his band plays Chicha music isn't traditional, but neither were the groups that covered "Fur Elise" with a surf guitar.

From singing with seagulls and imitating sirens to bowing a warm note on the cello, musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, Flora Purim and Lawrence Brownlee have warm-up routines as distinctly different as the music they make.

South African pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, but he spent much of his life in exile. With inspiration from Duke Ellington and others, Ibrahim's sound became more deeply rooted in Africa. Today, few living composers can match his melodic inventiveness.

Sara Tavares' travels from Portugal to her parents' homeland in Cape Verde put her in touch with her cultural roots. The journeys also brought a unique mix of sounds, rhythms and language to the singer/songwriter's music.

Saxophone player Benny Golson played with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey, and wrote music for the TV shows M*A*S*H and Mission Impossible. He talks about his role in reshaping Blakey's band as well as the bit part in a Stephen Spielberg movie that helped revitalize his career.

A debut at the Metropolitan Opera is an opera singer's dream. It's about to become a reality for tenor Lawrence Brownlee. He'll be singing the role of the love-struck Count Almaviva, in Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

Bo Diddley created a trademark rhythm that has become a cornerstone of rock 'n' roll. His music has inspired the songs of top rock artists from Buddy Holly to U2, as well as numerous covers.

Being the principal violist of the New York Philharmonic isn't exactly glamorous. But Cynthia Phelps says her section plays a "subtle but exciting" role in the texture and feel of the music.

If James Brown is the Godfather of Soul, George Clinton is the Crown Prince of Funk. Now past retirement age, the ringleader of Parliament and Funkadelic continues to inspire new generations of musicians and listeners.

Composer Tan Dun grew up in Mao's China. As a boy, he saw his parents sent away for so-called "re-education." For the series "Musicians in Their Own Words," Tan Dun describes his musical coming of age under China's Cultural Revolution.

Following jazz great Ray Brown and funk's Bootsy Collins, Christian McBride is building on his predecessors' bass work. He McBride finds plenty of room to explore "the groove underneath — the bottom."

The young percussionist known as Suphala studied for years with Ravi Shankar's tabla player, the late Usted Allarakha. She describes how she gets the tabla to speak in many languages.

She was born in Illinois. But when Abigail Washburn picks up her banjo and sings, the lyrics are often in Chinese. An immersion in Chinese culture inspired her to reconnect with American musical roots.

Michael Ramos was the ideal sideman, recording with John Mellencamp, the BoDeans and The Rembrandts. Now, with his own group, Charanga Cakewalk, he returns to his Tex-Mex roots.

A few years ago, Del McCoury tired of the trappings of modern concert amplification and pared down his equipment. Now he's attracting much younger audiences, touring with jam bands such as Phish, String Cheese Incident and Donna the Buffalo.

In the early 1990s, a new kind of feminist icon emerged. Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill, wrote lyrics about domestic violence and rape... and became a symbol of the riot grrrl movement. Her new group is Le Tigre.

Bill Summers has traced the rhythmic links African, Caribbean and American music for more than 30 years. He draws on years spent with Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, and his own group, Los Hombres Calientes, to discuss rhythms and beats.

Manuel Barrueco has been called an "aristocrat of the guitar" with "uncommon lyrical gifts." This summer, the Cuban-born musician takes his talents on the road with the Cuarteto Lationamericano.

At 24, Hilary Hahn has already recorded landmark violin concertos with the world's great orchestras. She describes the meditative experience of playing Bach alone — and of trying to sound like a bird with an orchestra.

Musician Andy Narell has made his name by coaxing tunes out of sawed-off oil barrels. He's one of the best-known performers on the steel pan, also known as the steel drum.