Music

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the late New Orleans blues pianist and singer Smiley Lewis, a talent Ward says was consistently overlooked.

Folksinger Hazel Dickens. She sings and appears in the John Sayles film "Matewan." Dickens is best known for her traditional renditions of country and folk tunes and for her songs of protest.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a reissue of the "The Complete Coleman Hawkins," a set of four compact discs that captures highlights of the 1944 recording sessions of the renown tenor saxophonist.

Performance artist Meredith Monk. Her interdisciplinary art fuses elements of dance, film, theater and music. Her new collection of songs combines half-sounds like shrieks, sobs and moans into a unified and startling whole.

Brazilian composer and guitarist Orlando Haddad will perform two songs popularized in Brazilian films.

A live concert featuring Kansas City pianist Jay McShann. As a big band leader in the 40s and 50s, McShann helped start the careers of jazz stars like Charlie Parker and Big Joe Turner.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker will review "Tunnel of Love," the new and long-awaited Bruce Springsteen solo album.

Moe Tucker, drummer for The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed's band that won cult status in the mid-70s.

Rock historian Ed Ward looks at Smokey Robinson's early recordings, when he was the lead singer of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and one of Motown's top acts.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Shades," the new album by pianist Andrew Hill.

American operatic baritone Sherrill Milnes. Milnes, who has sung in most of the world's major opera houses, is known primarily as a Verdi and Puccini specialist.

Polka player Guy Klucevsek. Klucevsek grew up in western Pennsylvania, a hotbed of polka playing. He'll perform "Ain't Nothing But a Polka," an excerpt from his work "Polka From the Fringe."

Rock Critic Ken Tucker will review "Babylon and On," by the British group Squeeze.

Classical Music Critic Lloyd Schwartz will review the new album by cellist Yo Yo Ma.

Rock historian Ed Ward will look at the spiritual struggles of veteran rocker Jerry Lee Lewis and what role they played in his music.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead will review the new album by drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith.

Singer Ian Whitcomb will take us back to the Tin Pan Alley era.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker will review two albums, "Romeo's Escape," by Dave Alvin, and "The Lonesome Jubilee," by John Cougar Mellencamp.

Dave Harrington, founder of first violinist of the Kronos Quartet, the avant-garde chamber group that's meeting with mainstream success.

Classical Music Critic Lloyd Schwartz will review the discography of soprano Maria Callas, including several recordings now available on CD.