There’s much more to the fiercely intelligent, multitalented singer-songwriter-keyboardist Patrice Rushen than “Forget Me Nots,” though that song, with its get-up-and-dance groove and Rushen’s sweet vocals, is undeniable. Not only was it a Grammy-nominated hit in 1982, but it served as the basis for Will Smith’s “Men in Black” (amid a tense negotiation) and in 2021 became a viral TikTok dance sensation. Just what you’d expect from a formally trained jazz pianist who began studying music at age 3, was signed to the jazz label Prestige at age 17 and moved on to record funky, genre-defying music for Elektra. She also has scored films such as Hollywood Shuffle, served as music director for the Grammy and Emmy Awards, and chairs the University of Southern California’s Popular Music Program. It’s all of a piece, she explains, and straight from the heart.

As guitarist for the impossibly funky New Orleans band the Meters, Leo Nocentelli wrote an array of indelible riffs and songs; you’ve likely heard “Cissy Strut” in movies, TV promos and hip-hop samples, and “People Say,” from the great 1974 album Rejuvenation, is another of many classics. He also played on high-profile releases as a teenage session musician in New Orleans and later, with and without the Meters, on songs by Robert Palmer, Dr. John, Labelle (including “Lady Marmalade”) and Peter Gabriel. And while the Meters were on hiatus in 1971, Nocentelli wrote and recorded a James Taylor-inspired singer-songwriter album, Another Side, that sat for 50 years before a miraculous resolution. It's a helluva story.

The first time I saw Jane Lynch, she was playing Carol Brady on stage in Chicago in Real Live Brady Bunch, but you’re more likely to know her from Glee or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Hollywood Game Night or The 40 Year Old Virgin or Best in Show or Funny Girl on Broadway or…the list goes on. She’s a quick-witted improviser, a hard-working performer, a five-time Emmy winner and, as you’ll hear, a dynamic conversationalist. Did she know she was funny while growing up in the Chicago south suburb of Dolton? Did she have a positive experience at Second City? Does she prefer improvising or working with a script? What was her "white hot ambition"? How important is projecting confidence? And why and how is she so busy? You’ll listen with glee...

ZZ Ward has a powerful, soulful voice, a great ear for hooks and an old-school blues-rock sensibility fused with hip-hop rhythms, all playing out on a spaghetti-western landscape. Her third album, Dirty Shine, comes out Sept. 8 and is her first as a mother as well as an independent artist after two albums (Til the Casket Drops and The Storm) with Disney’s Hollywood label. Her DIY approach certainly hasn’t curbed her artistic ambitions: The new album includes collaborations with Vic Mensa and Aloe Blacc, her brother Adam William Ward directed mini-movies for several of the songs, and she even made (and sells) the fedoras she wears in them. My daughter Ruthie Caro, who turned me on to ZZ Ward’s music years ago, joins this lively conversation with one of her musical heroes.

Johnny Hickman has provided “bonehead guitar riffs,” memorable songs and a spark-plug energy to Cracker since the band debuted more than 30 years ago. Hickman and primary singer-songwriter David Lowery already were friends from Redlands, Calif., when Lowery called him after the implosion of his band Camper Van Beethoven. The ever-lively Hickman digs into the bounty of riffs, hooks and wit that went into Cracker’s self-titled debut album, which includes “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now).” How did the band raise the bar with Kerosene Hat, propelled by the hits “Low” and “Get Off This?” Why did the formidable rhythm section leave, prompting Cracker to move to the “Steely Dan model”? What’s the story behind Hickman’s arrest after wielding his 1977 Les Paul as a weapon? Listening to Hickman play or speak is a cure for feeling low.

You may know Sally Potter as the groundbreaking English director of such films as Orlando, The Tango Lesson and Yes, but now she also is a recording artist. At age 73 Potter has released her first solo album, Pink Bikini, writing, singing and playing keyboards. The songs look back on her teenage years in 1960s London, when she was discovering her own sexuality, wrestling with shame, rebelling against her mother and finding her artistic and political voices. Speaking from her studio, Potter also reflects on the transformative effect of having a film camera in her hands at age 14, the paucity of female filmmakers when she started and her unwillingness to let age limit her creative pursuits. As she puts it: “Who cares about the calendar?”

Michael Shannon is an Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor who, the night before this conversation, sang R.E.M. songs at the Chicago club Metro. He’s multitalented, thoughtful and fearless, with a commitment to Chicago theater that doesn't wane no matter how high his profile rises. In this probing, good-humored on-stage conversation at the club Space, Shannon couldn’t discuss his prominent film and TV work due to the SAG-AFTRA strike against Hollywood’s producers, so he went deep in other areas, such as: his early ping-ponging between Kentucky and Chicago’s North Shore; his repeated path-crossings with Tracy Letts; how his family life inspired his direction of the upcoming indie film, Eric Larue; what he did when only two audience members showed up for a Hurlyburly performance; what he thinks of the strike; and whether he preps for a concert as if it’s another role. He also performs two original songs that—spoiler alert—are awesome.

Los Lobos was doing its label a favor when it played on what turned out to be a big album: Paul Simon’s Graceland. Why did the band wind up feeling burned? Los Lobos sax/keyboard player Steve Berlin explains. Happier times arrived as Los Lobos hit No. 1 with its cover of Richie Valens’ “La Bamba.” How did they capitalize on their newfound popularity? What was so strange about the recording process for the album The Neighborhood? What key takeaways from that experience led to the Los Lobos’ 1992 masterpiece, Kiko? Berlin takes us inside that creative peak period and explains why the band was behind the eight-ball when it came time to record the groovy follow-up, Colossal Head—and how David Hidalgo may be the most unassuming great guitarist there is.

Saxophonist/keyboard player/producer Steve Berlin played with the Blasters before joining Los Lobos, and he noticed a stark contrast between how those two L.A. bands operated. He stuck with Los Lobos and still plays with them 40 years later. A call-‘em-as-he-sees-‘em storyteller, Berlin recounts a crazy Gregg Allman experience, an ordeal with a bad-decisions-prone producer, and his first experience playing what would become his trademark instrument, the baritone sax, on a celebrated Blasters song. He also discusses Los Lobos' sometimes-messy creative process and his co-production—and eventual falling out—with T Bone Burnett on early Los Lobos records. That conflict led to his being diverted to produce the band’s soundtrack for an apparent B-movie. The title? La Bamba. Berlin serves up so much tasty material, you’ll get a second helping next week.

Booker T. and the M.G.’s were an all-time great band on their own and while playing with such Stax acts as Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Albert King and Otis Redding. Guitarist Steve Cropper, who made every note count, produced many of Redding's sessions and co-wrote such hits as “Mr. Pitiful” and the landmark “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” After Redding died in a plane crash in late 1967, Cropper prepped “The Dock of the Bay” and other recently recorded tracks for a series of posthumous albums that Rhino Records has compiled in a new box set called Otis Forever. Speaking from his Nashville home, Cropper tells surprising stories about working with Redding, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, Mavis Staples, the Blues Brothers, Neil Young and more. Play it, Steve!