Music

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new album from Jules Shear. It's a collection of cover tunes by artists ranging from Bob Dylan to the Dave Clark Five.

One of their most beloved musicals — Fiddler on the Roof — is back on Broadway. The production, at the Minskoff Theatre, stars Alfred Molina as Tevye and includes a new song they wrote. There's a new cast recording of the show. Bock and Harnick collaborated on Fiorello (which won a Pulitzer Prize), She Loves Me and The Rothschilds.

He died earlier this month. Lacy was considered "the foremost interpreter of Thelonius Monk" and in fact trained and performed with Monk when he was in his mid-20s. Lacy was also known as the "father of the modern soprano saxophone." (This interview first aired Nov. 20, 1997.)

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews the new Loretta Lynn CD Van Lear Rose. The CD features Jack White, lead singer and guitarist for the rock band The White Stripes.

The great singer and pianist Ray Charles died Thursday, June 10, at the age of 73. He was about to go back on tour, but died of complications of liver disease. Charles shaped American music since the 1950s, at first copying the styles of black vocalists like Nat King Cole and Charles Brown. But he soon developed a style all his own. His career grew along with Atlantic records, which signed him as a fledgling label. Charles' first hit was "I've Got a Woman" in 1955. He went on to record more bluesy, gospel-charged hits, country, jazz and rock.

The great singer and pianist Ray Charles died Thursday, June 10, at the age of 73 (Rebroadcast from Oct. 19, 1998.)

Music critic Milo Miles remembers Robert Quine, a respected guitarist in the New York punk and underground jazz scenes. He was found dead on June 5 of an apparent heroin overdose.

Burns, along with drummer John Convertino, make up the band Calexico. The Tucson, Ariz. band is known for music that is inspired by southwest border region they live in, blending multiple musical genres including folk, rock, pop, country and mariachi. Their latest album is Feast of Wire.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews music from the film The Triplets of Belleville, now on DVD.

Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new recording by tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson and drummer Hamid Drake. It's called Back Together Again.

Rock historian Ed Ward talks about some of the soul music that came out of the Vietnam war.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Now Here Is Nowhere, the first major-label release by the trio Secret Machines.

Jones was considered one of the most influential drummers in jazz history. He died Tuesday at the age of 76. He was best known for his work with John Coltrane. He also toured with bassist Charles Mingus and pianist Bud Powell. Jones had been a bandleader for over 30 years. His brother Hank Jones is a respected jazz pianist and his brother Thad Jones was a composer, arranger and bandleader who died in 1986. (Originally broadcast on Jan. 7, 1998.)

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead pays tribute to Fats Waller on the centennial of his birth, and reviews Fats Waller: The Centennial Collection, a CD and DVD.

Guitarist and singer Marty Grosz and cornet player Randy Reinhart join us for a special in-studio performance in honor of the 100th birthday of Thomas "Fats" Waller. He would have been 100 on May 21. Grosz and Reinhart will perform songs composed by the great pianist and vocalist. Waller wrote many hit songs, appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s, and wrote Broadway musicals.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Give (Columbia) the latest by the trio The Bad Plus.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Musicology, (Columbia) the new recording by Prince.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the debut album by the Eagles of Death Metal called Peace Love Death Metal. The group's drummer is Josh Homme, the singer-guitarist of the hard-rock band Queens of the Stone Age.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Get Away From Me, the debut album by singer-songwriter Nellie McKay.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new box set of Dave Brubeck's Time Out albums.