Music

Lamar plays a prominent role on the soundtrack for the new Marvel film. Critic Ken Tucker says the songs on Black Panther are are shrewd, passionate and "almost ridiculously entertaining."

Critic Ken Tucker says he former ska/punk musician's new record is filled with "angry confusion," but Rosenstock also reveals himself as a singer-songwriter with a gift for delicate melodies.

A new reissue catches Montgomery's quartet on their 1965 European tour. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the compilations are elegant and complicated, and you can hear Coltrane's influence throughout.

The new album by British songwriter and performer Charli XCX features collaborations with Carly Rae Jepsen, Tove Lo and others. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Pop 2 is highly enjoyable.

Callas, who died in 1977, was known for her ability to merge musical notes with complex feelings. Now Warner Classics has released a box set of her live recordings — including 20 complete operas.

The trombonist, who died on Dec. 22, spoke to Terry Gross in 2002 about the first time he played the horn as a kid: "This phenomenon came out, and I said, 'Damn, that's me! '"

A new 20-disc box set contains over 500 performances from the Shreveport, La., program that served as a talent showcase for country acts in the 1950s — including Hank Williams and Elvis Presley.

You might think that Sánchez's Spanish-French-Cuban-Canadian-Israeli quintet would go haywire with so many rhythmic accents in play, but critic Kevin Whitehead says the composer pulls it all together.

The Atlanta-based musician blends contrasting pop genres on his second album. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Face Your Fear reveals Harding's deep knowledge of R&B.

Rudd started out playing dixieland before graduating to free jazz. Now he's collaborating with singer Fay Victor on his latest album. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Embrace has a "valedictory air."

Kevin Whitehead remembers alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, pianist Geri Allen, guitarist John Abercrombie and singer Jon Hendricks. Each "helped shape jazz after the upheavals of the 1960s," he says.

No collection of songs this year cohered to form a better picture of our collective mood than Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN. The rapper talks about feeling put-upon and abandoned, besieged and misunderstood, loved and hated. He samples voices from the Fox News channel; on the cut called "LUST.," he has a line about waking up "hoping the election wasn't true." His distinctive delivery is characterized by a flurry of syllables enunciated with hammering force. No matter how many times I hear it, it's thrilling.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews some box sets you might want to consider (or not) for holiday gifts

Writer John Szwed is the author of the new biography, So What: The Life of Miles Davis about the influential jazz trumpeter. Szwed is the John M. Musser Professor of Anthropology, African American Studies, Music and American Studies at Yale University. He is also the author of the biography Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra, about another innovative musician.

DiNizio, who died Tuesday, told Fresh Air in 1988 that his music was influenced by the songs he grew up listening to on AM radio in the 1960s. The Smithereens formed in Carteret, NJ, in 1980.

Three members of Ranky Tanky perform songs from their self-titled debut. The band's name and music derive from the tradition of the Gullah, slave descendants from the Georgia and South Carolina coast.

In 1952, record producer Norman Granz brought six jazz stars into the studio to back a singer from outside their circle: Hollywood song and dance man Fred Astaire.

Singer-songwriter Margo Price brings her guitar to the studio and sings some songs from her new album which Rolling Stone described as "one of the most political country records in years."

Swift brings together pulsing drumbeats, surging keyboards and multi-tracked vocals on her new album. The result is a record that mixes passion and emotion with careful control.