Check out the lead single from Paul McCartney’s as-yet-untitled new standards set. “My Valentine,” with a guest appearance by Eric Clapton, is one of the project’s two original compositions.

This year’s rock and pop list is a heady mix of the old (Paul Simon, Lindsey Buckingham) and the new (the Black Keys, Death Cab for Cutie).

I am ashamed to admit that I’d never owned a copy of The Ventures’ Christmas Album, until a few years ago when I wandered into Bull Moose Music in Portland, Maine

As I write this, the power fails at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park just prior to kickoff of the Niners/Steelers Monday night football game. But as I am also listening to Frisco-based trumpeter Darren Johnston, I’m hearing lights-out music.

Here’s a look back in tribute to some of the notable figures in music who died in 2011, broken down by the month in which they passed.