Violinist Shlomo Mintz. Mintz was born in Moscow and emigrated with his family two years later to Israel. He made his concerto debut at age 11 with Zubin Mehta, and has continued to appear with Mehta each season since. Mintz is considered one of the foremost violinists of this generation.
Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble, creators of the Philadelphia International label -- one of the great black pop record labels of the early '70's.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of ABC's "Nightline," and television critic David Bianculli examines how the show went from a special on the hostage crisis to one of the most important programs in broadcast journalism.
Chinese chef Ken Hom. He's the author of the new cookbook, "Fragrant Harbor Taste: The New Chinese Cooking of Hong Kong." Hong Kong is in the midst of a culinary revolution, with Japanese, European, and American foods and styles of preparation all merging with traditional Chinese cuisine. Hom has taught cooking in Hong Kong for the past ten years. He's also written several previous cookbooks and hosted the public T-V series "Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery."
Commentator Patsy McLaughlin (mc-LOFF-lin) reflects on advertising's "Breck" girl becoming the "Breck" woman. McLaughlin will speak with this year's Breck model, Pamela Chew.
Jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie. Bowie is considered one of the most original trumpeters in jazz, and a master of horn effects. Bowie started out playing with Saint Louis R&B bands. In 1969, he helped found the Art Ensemble of Chicago as an outlet for more eclectic and avant-garde jazz. Bowie also heads his own band, Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy. They have a new album, called "Serious Fun."
World music commentator Milo Miles reviews David Byrne's "Brazil Classics" series and talks about the recent trend among Western rock stars to borrow rhythms and singers from the musical traditions of Africa, the Near East, and South America. He asks whether this is valuable exposure for little-known musicians or a form of exploitation.
Rock critic Ken Tucker review the new albums from Janet Jackson and Laurie Anderson. Ken says the two performers are seemingly miles apart...Jackson's the sister of Michael Jackson and her albums are huge urban contemporary hits, and Anderson's a product of the New York performance scene...but there is common ground. Both albums (Jackson's is called "Rhythm Nation 1814" and Anderson's is titled "Strange Angels") have unifying themes and draw heavily on the latest technology.
Psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom. Yalom is one of the world's leading psychotherapists, and his theories have been adopted by most of this country's clinics and hospitals. Yalom has written several books on psychotherapy, aimed both at experts and the layman. Yalom's new book is called "Love's Executioner & Other Tales of Psychotherapy." It's a collection of ten stories, each featuring one of Yalom's patients, that illustrate the individual difficulties and common threads of psychotherapy.
Critic Owen Gleiberman (GLY-ber-man) reviews the 1964 movie "Bedtime Story" starring David Niven and Marlon Brando as a pair of conniving womanizers. It's now out on home video. That movie inspired last year's film, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
Veteran arms negotiator and diplomat Paul Nitze. Nitze has spent nearly 50 years at the highest levels of this country's foreign policy, and advised every President from F. D. R. to George Bush. He helped form the Marshall Plan after World War Two, dealt with the Berlin War and Cuban Missile crises, and engaged in the famous "walk in the woods," during the U-S/Soviet INF treaty negotiations. Nitze has just written a memoir of his public life, called "From Hiroshima to Glasnost."
John Malpede and Kevin Williams of the Los Angeles Poverty Department, a performance group comprised primarily of homeless and formerly homeless people. The LAPD tries to show the reality of life on the streets. John Malpede is a former performance artist and founder of LAPD (in 1985). He now serves as the group's director and a legal advocate for the homeless. Kevin Wiliams is LAPD's assistant director and former resident of Skid Row.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews two new albums by composer, saxophonist and clarinetist Anthony Braxton. Although Braxton's music has been much criticized, Kevin calls him one of his heroes. Braxton's new albums are "19 Solo Compositions 1988" and "Seven Compositions (Trio) 1989."
Book critic John Leonard reviews "Foucault's Pendulum," the new novel by Umberto Eco. Eco's first novel was the critically acclaimed bestseller "The Name of the Rose."
Writer John Updike. Updike is known as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of some thirty novels and short stories, including the "Rabbit" novels. His latest effort is not a work of fiction, but a book on art. It's a collection of 23 essays called "Just Looking" that offers Updike's personal reactions to some of the world's masterpieces. He also comments on some of the recent "megashows" such as Renoir at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and Andrew Wyeth's "Helga" paintings.
