Music

Frequently on her new album Timekeeper, Schwartz sounds like a throwback to another era. Her singing sometimes possesses the spirit of a more lighthearted Laura Nyro, and she has a heathy fondness for The Beatles.

The singer's new album is a work of great, accomplished craft about the pointlessness of crafting anything you care about, because the world is just going to ruin it on you.

Last month, Ronstadt revealed that she has Parkinson's disease and can no longer sing. Her new memoir, Simple Dreams, reflects on a long career. In this conversation with Fresh Air's Terry Gross, she offers frank insights on sex, drugs, and why "competition was for the horse races."

A key to the ongoing allure of Dylan's music lies in its ability to stand apart from its time. A new collection of alternate takes and demos re-evaluates the critical flop that was 1970's Self Portrait.

Duke Ellington's piece for Queen Elizabeth II is included in a new collection of late-period suites.

In 1950, a red-haired Alabama boy who'd learned about radio and electronics in the U.S. Army opened a recording studio to document the blues and country music he loved. A new box set compiles the beginnings of Sam Philipps'

At 60, New York City composer John Zorn is wiser, sure, but no less prolific, thoughtful and antagonistic than before. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that, at his age, "there are no more doubts."

Listen and look past his roué image, and the chart-topper is revealed as an earnest nostalgist.

Evans can be a heavy hitter at the keyboard, but on his new album, he reins himself in a bit.

The English trio S.O.S. — saxophonists John Surman, Mike Osborne and Alan Skidmore — was formed in 1973, and made only one LP for the Ogun label a couple years later. They didn't last long, but they were the first of many horn choirs born in the '70s and '80s, mostly saxophone quartets.