Music

Rock historian Ed Ward appraises the life and work of Philadelphia music producer Jerry Ragovoy.

Singer Michael, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills came together in Athens, Ga., in 1980 to form the group R.E.M. This year, the band released Accelerate, its 14th album.

Hearts of Space began as a late night radio show out of San Francisco in 1973. Ten years later, it went national. The show has issued a series of albums to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Composer Erran Baron Cohen's latest CD offers a new take on traditional sounds. He talks about the album — and about collaborating with his brother Sacha Baron Cohen on the movie Borat.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new CD of Scott Wheeler's opera, based on a hymn to Boston by the New York poet Kenneth Koch. The disc captures a live performance by the Boston Cecilia choral society.

Dave McKenna, the hard-swinging jazz keyboardist who died in October, was a particular favorite of Fresh Air dating back to the show's early local broadcasts. Our Thanksgiving Day broadcast is devoted to his memory — with excerpts from an interview and in-studio performance from 1988, plus remembrances from his sister, singer Jean McKenna O'Donnell.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews a trio of new pop singles: Pink's "So What," Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," and "Crush," from onetime American Idol sensation David Archuleta.

In Volume 6 of its Complete Motown Singles series, the Hip-O Select label surveys the Motown magicians making noise in 1966: the Isley Brothers, the Supremes, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and others. Fresh Air's rock historian has a review.

Widely regarded as one of the best guitarists of all time, blues legend B.B. King is still recording at age 82. Music critic Milo Miles reviews King's newest album, One Kind Favor.

Raphael Saadiq, the lead vocalist in the late-1980s R&B band Tony! Toni! Tone!, has emerged as solo artist with his new album The Way I See It. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.