Music

Critic Milo Miles reviews two new DVDs which document the history of hip-hop: Charlie Ahern's feature Wild Style from 1982, and Doug Pray's documentary Scratch from 2001.

His album, Down in the Alley has been nominated for a Grammy as Best Traditional Blues Recording. He's been playing acoustic blues for nearly 20 years. Though he was raised in California, his roots musically and otherwise are in rural Mississippi. He was influenced by Charlie Patton, Leadbelly, Blind Willie McTell and others. Later he was also influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Taj Mahal.

He is also known as "Questlove" of the hip-hop group The Roots. The Grammy award-winning sextet has six albums to its credit. Their latest CD is Phrenology. Their first single from the album is "Break You Off." One reviewer writes, "To fully savor the sound, you've got to commit to spending time with The Roots, to wallow in both the music and the message.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles blues singer Wynonie Harris who recorded between 1945 and 1952.

He reviews Crazy: The Demo Sessions (Sugar Hill records), a collection of songs Willie Nelson wrote and recorded between 1960 and 1966, hoping to sell them to the big stars of the country era.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the third album by singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur. It's called Redemption's Son.

Ed Ward profiles guitar prodigy Link Wray.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews two new recordings that rely on new technology: DJ Shadow's The Private Press (on MCA) and The Best Bootlegs in the World. Ever.

He will give us his take on the best albums of the year, including new releases from Eminem, Missy Elliot and The Hives. He is a regular Fresh Air contributor and he also writes for Entertainment Weekly.

Ed Ward reviews When The Sun Goes Down: The Secret History of Rock & Roll a four volume set on RCA of mostly African-American music from the late 1920s to the mid-50s.