Music

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles soul singer James Carr who died in 2001.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new collection Carmell Jones, featuring jazz trumpeter Carmell Jones. The album is currently available only through Mosaic Records.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the band Moby Grape.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews Donnie's The Colored Section, and A Woman Like Me, the new album by Bettye Lavette.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Elephant, the new album by the White Stripes.

Ken Tucker reviews Rules of Travel, the new album by Rosanne Cash.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews The Party’s Over by the Smoking Popes which they recorded in 1998 just before the band broke up. It's just been released.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz considers the original Hollywood movie score from the Silent era to the present.

Jazz critic Kevin Whithead reviews Humidity, the new CD by drummer Matt Wilson.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Blowing In From Chicago, a new re-issue from tenor saxophonists Clifford Jordan and John Gilmore.

The annual South By Southwest Music Conference takes place in Austin, Texas from March 12-16 this year. Rock Historian Ed Ward revisits the thriving Austin music scene of the late 1970s.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new albums from The Buzzcocks and Paul Weller, the frontman from the band The Jam. The album titles are Buzzcocks and Illumination.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Perpetuum Immobile (on the Leo label) by pianist Simon Nabatov.

He began studying violin at the age of four and later attended the Moscow Conservatory. Over the years he has won the most prestigious violinist prizes, including the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Paganini Competition in Genoa. His repertoire is extensive, including the standard classical and Romantic violin works as well as works by Arvo Part, John Adams and Astor Piazzolla. He has more than 100 recordings to his credit, including Happy Birthday, his most recent.

We remember singer/ songwriter HANK BALLARD. He wrote and recorded the song Chubby Checker later made famous, “The Twist.” Ballard died Sunday after a bout with throat cancer. This interview was recorded in 1993.

Critic Milo Miles reviews two new DVDs which document the history of hip-hop: Charlie Ahern's feature Wild Style from 1982, and Doug Pray's documentary Scratch from 2001.

With his writing partner, Fred Ebb, Kander wrote the music for the original Broadway musical Chicago. The movie version of Chicago is nominated for 13 Academy Awards this year. Kander and Ebb are nominated for their song "I Move On." Kander and Ebb also wrote the music for the shows Cabaret, The Act, Woman of the Year, and Flora the Red Meance, and the Martin Scorsese movie musical New York, New York. Both Chicago and Cabaret have recently been revived on Broadway.

His album, Down in the Alley has been nominated for a Grammy as Best Traditional Blues Recording. He's been playing acoustic blues for nearly 20 years. Though he was raised in California, his roots musically and otherwise are in rural Mississippi. He was influenced by Charlie Patton, Leadbelly, Blind Willie McTell and others. Later he was also influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Taj Mahal.

Composer Alf Clausen, the man behind the music of The Simpsons. This interview first aired May 14, 1997.