Music

Texas and country music legend Freddy Fender, 69, died Saturday of lung cancer. Fender's big hit was "Before the Next Teardrop Falls."

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews White Bread Black Beer, the first album in eight years by the post-punk band Scritti Politti — which is now down to its sole founding member, Welshman Green Gartside.

Rock historian Ed Ward tells us the story of Wire, a British art-rock band from the late 1970s. Wire has broken up and reformed several times, but Ward focuses on the original. Three albums have been reissued and are available in stores: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154.

John Pizzarelli has been playing jazz guitar with his legendary father, Bucky, since he was 6 years old. John's latest album is Dear Mr. Sinatra, on which he plays songs written for Ol' Blue Eyes. Pizzarelli appears at the Birdland jazz club in Manhattan this week.

We remember country music singer and yodeler Don Walser, who died Wednesday at the age of 72 of complications from diabetes. Walser was a country music icon in Austin, Texas, where he lived and played at clubs, VFW halls, and honkytonks. He's best remembered for his series of records in the 1990s, produced with Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson. This interview originally aired Dec. 13, 1994.

Everybody knows jazz is an American invention that mediates between African and European musical conventions. But for decades, African and European improvisers have been forging their own bonds and hybrids, without American mediation. As a case in point, here's a newly issued historical recording by the South African-born bassist Harry Miller: Harry Miller's Isipingo: Which Way Now.

Actor Ed Harris plays Ludwig van Beethoven in the new film Copying Beethoven, and he's also starring in the new play Wrecks, written and directed by Neil LaBute. The play is set to begin previews at New York's Public Theater on September 26 and open on Oct. 10.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz tells us about a recent trip to the Santa Fe Opera, which celebrated its 50th anniversary season this year.

Bob Dylan's new album, Modern Times, hit the top of the record charts last week. Now 65, the singer-songwriter continues to explore blues and older pop styles with lyrics that frequently contain contemporary references.

Trumpeter, composer, and arranger Gerald Wilson turned 88 years old Monday. He grew up in Mississippi, and got his start playing with Jimmy Lunceford's band in New York City. He later worked with Benny Carter's band and formed his own. As a composer-arranger, he worked for the Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie bands. And he accompanied Billie Holiday on her tour of the South in 1949. He's arranged music for Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Bobby Darin, and Carmen McRae. His most recent CD was released last year, In My Time.

On his new album, Timeless Love, rhythm and blues legend Smokey Robinson sings hits from the American songbook, including "I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby)," "Night and Day" and "More Than You Know." Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson recorded dozens of top 40 hits for the Motown label as a solo artist and with The Miracles.

Jazz alto saxophonist Jackie McLean passed away in March. McLean was a disciple of Charlie Parker and a leading hardbop saxophonist in the '50s.

Golden Smog is a side-project for veterans of rock bands such as Wilco, the Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, and lesser-known groups.

Elvis Presley confidant Jerry Schilling talks about his new book, Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley. When Schilling was 12 years old, he met the teenaged Elvis Presley at a north Memphis pickup football game. As Presley rose to fame, Schilling joined him on the rise, eventually becoming creative affairs director for Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are marking their 30th year in the business with a U.S. tour, and Petty has a new solo album, Highway Companion.

Ever since Chuck Berry, St. Louis has been producing rock music that defies the prevailing norm. But is it possible that in 1969 it also produced America's Beatles, a band no one ever heard? Rock historian Ed Ward investigates the curious case of the Aerovons.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new DVD collection of conductor Arturo Toscanini's live NBC symphony telecasts between 1948 and 1952.

Our rock critic reviews Pick A Bigger Weapon a new hip hop album from The Coup.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new reissue of the 1958 Duke Ellington's Spacemen album, The Cosmic Scene.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the early years of the Franklin sisters. Aretha Franklin is a renowned soul legend, but her two sisters, Carolyn and Erma, were also singers.