This week’s focus is on British songwriter/vocalist Joan Armatrading and covers of her songs by Letta Mbulu, Keisha White, Susheela Raman, Bobby McFerrin, and Courtney Pine with Kele Le Roc. We also catch up with the latest rising star from England, Corinne Bailey Rae.

We gave you a little appetizer of James Brown last week, but we know it wasn’t enough. This week, we’re serving up a whole buffett of J.B. For you hip-hop heads out there, we have six helpings of classic J.B. breakbeats. For the purists, original J.B. concoctions like "I Got You" and "Cold Sweat." And for those with a more adventurous palate, we have some spicy live versions, tasty remakes and exotic remixes. Pull up a chair, tuck a napkin in your shirt and dig in. It’s James Brown week at BoL.

It’s jazzy funk and funky jazz at BoL. We begin with three cuts from the undisputed King of Funk, the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. We end with three cuts featuring one of the leading lights of jazz, alto master Kenny Garrett. Rounding things out, a b-boy classic by German drummer George Kranz and the Roots’ cover of Kranz, featuring Philly drummer Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson.

This week we investigate Brazil’s bossa nova with classics from Antônio Carlos Jobim, Tania Maria, Rosa Maria, Luiza and Astrud Gilberto plus modern updates from acustico-electro genius Suba, from Juryman and from South Africa’s Hugh Masekela. For good measure, we add to the mix Cuba’s preeminent hip-hop MC Telmary Diaz. And don’t worry. Neither your Spanish nor your Portuguese needs to be fluent to enjoy these offerings.

Satta Massagana, we give thanks six different ways with The Abyssinians, Ernest Ranglin, Johnny Clarke, Augustus Pablo, Peter Tosh and Third World. Nicholas Payton drops some red hot trumpet wah-wah. And Miles Davis and Nina Simone explore the feelings when a man is gone. This is a down and rootsy week.