Music

Fresh Air Terry Gross's most pressing question for the blues and gospel group is, Why hasn't she heard of them before? For over twenty years, the real life brothers Sherman and Wendell, along with bandmate Popsy Dixon, have performed soulful, vocal-driven music. Their new album is called In the Spirit.

Roberts helped popularize what is now called world music. His interest, particularly in African music, developed while he worked for a news agency in Kenya. Roberts was surprised to discover American influences in some of the songs he recorded, which led him to reject any notion of a pure, national music.

Lomax, along with his father, used portable recording equipment to capture regional American music -- including the songs of African Americans, prisoners, and the legendary Woody Guthrie. This effort eventually led to the founding of the American Folklife Center.

Biographer Laurence Bergreen. His new book is "As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin." (published by Viking Press). Bergreen is also the author of "James Agee: A Life."

Clarinetist Don Byron. Byron's black, but he plays klezmer, the music created from the mixture of American jazz and European jewish culture. Byron's an alumnus of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and he performs on a new anthology album called "Live At The Knitting Factory." It's on A&M records.

A stereo concert with Brave Combo The quartet founded the "nuclear polka" movement, and on their latest album, "Humansville" (Rounder Records), they continue their global exploration of musical styles.

Writer and critic Nelson George. George is one of this county's most prominent chroniclers of black music. He's the black music editor at Billboard, is a columnist for Playboy, and regularly writes for the Village Voice and Essence. George was the editor of a new book called, "Stop the Violence," a collaboration of today's top rappers working to end black on black violence. George's earlier books include a history of Motown called "Where Did Our Love Go?" and "The Death of Rhythm and Blues."

Poet ALLEN GINSBERG and composer PHILLIP GLASS. The pair have collaborated on a interpretation of Ginsberg's poem, "Hydrogen Jukebox." The work gets it's premiere April 26th at the American Music Theatre Festival in Philadelphia, and features six singers, a five piece orchestra, and a mix of songs, chants, and the spoken word.

Jazz pianist Dave McKenna plays an April medley.

A cappella vocalist Bobby McFerrin. He's best known for his recording, "Don't Worry Be Happy," one of several records that's earned McFarrin Grammy awards. Another was for the title track from the film "Round Midnight," in which he used his voice to sound like a trumpet. McFerrin's newest project is "Voicestra," a 10 member vocal ensemble, with a background that ranges from classical music and jazz to theatre and dance. The group has its debut in Los Angeles, April 10-15.