Music

Critic Milo Miles reviews a pair of what he considers rarities — all-instrumental albums that don't belong to a clear school or style of music. But in the case of the band Massacre and the Claudia Quintet, he says that's a good thing.

British blue-eyed soul singer Nick Lowe played London's pub scene in the '70s in the band Brinsley Schwarz, produced five albums for Elvis Costello, and played with Ry Cooder and Jon Hiatt in Little Village. Now he's back with a solo album, his ninth, called At My Age, and he joins Terry Gross for an interview and an in-studio performance.

Fresh Air's resident rock historian remembers soul singer Lorraine Ellison, who recorded a handful of albums and dozens of singles in the '60s and '70s; though she charted a few R&B hits, she never quite broke through to stardom.

Ellison's biggest success was with the string-saturated ballad "Stay With Me," which topped out at No. 11 on the R&B charts and has since been covered by everyone from Bette Midler to teenybopper idol Rex Smith.

Kelly Willis' Translated From Love is the first release from the "new traditionalist" country singer since 2002's widely acclaimed Easy.

The 12-track album features originals and covers — including the title tune (by Stephen Yerkey) and Willis' reading of Iggy Pop's "Success."

Translated From Love was produced by Willis' longtime collaborator Chuck Prophet.

Chu Berry, otherwise known as Leon Berry, was a tenor saxophonist who backed singers like Billie Holiday and Mildred Bailey in the 1930s, and jammed with Fletcher Henderson's and Cab Calloway's bands. He died in 1941, at the age of 33, in a car accident.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a sprawling limited-edition box set from Mosaic, titled Classic Chu Berry Columbia and Victor Sessions.

She was a home-grown phenomenon, an operatic soprano trained entirely in the U.S. in an era when most singers developed their craft in Europe, and she made a notable second career after her retirement as a formidable arts administrator and advocate. Fresh Air spoke with her in 1985.

Beverly Sills, the Brooklyn-born opera star with the charming smile and the clean, silvery coloratura, died Monday at the age of 78. Fresh Air's classical music critic pays tribute.

British singer-songwriter Bryan Ferry is probably best known as the frontman for Roxy Music, the experimental synth-pop band he founded in 1971.

But over the years, in between his Roxy music, he's recorded albums devoted to songwriters he admires.

The latest? It features his takes on tunes from "Simple Twist of Fate" to "Make You Feel My Love," and it's called Dylanesque.

Singer Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, who helped bridge '50s doo-wop and '60s rock 'n' roll, are celebrated in a new four-CD box set called Jersey Beat. The group released two dozen Top 40 hits, including "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Sherry" and "Walk Like a Man." Jersey Boys, the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, is based on the lives of the Four Seasons.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles songwriter Doc Pomus, the Brooklyn-born blues singer and songwriter who died in 1991. Born Jerome Solon Felder, he survived a childhood case of polio and went on to write hits for Ray Charles and Elvis Presley, among others. His songs include "Lonely Avenue," "Viva Las Vegas" and "Save the Last Dance for Me."

Lloyd Schwartz discusses Ruby Elzy.

The cross-cultural crew that is the New York band Balkan Beat Box came together around two Israeli musicians, Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan.

Their latest album is called Nu Med; world music critic Milo Miles has a review

Two weeks after its debut, Toby Keith's Big Dog Daddy remains No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The country singer was voted Favorite Male Artist at the American Music Awards last year.

In April of this year, just a month before the death of New Orleans jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste, the Marsalis Music label celebrated him with one of its "Honors" discs. The recording — Batiste's first in more than a decade — paired the pioneering modern jazzman with younger musicians, including two of his students. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has a review.

British musician Jarvis Cocker founded the band Pulp at age 15; he made international headlines in 1996, when he stormed the stage in protest at a Michael Jackson concert at the BRIT awards in London. Lately he's been reunited with his father, who left the family when he was a child, denounced American Idol-style TV talent shows, and released a solo album, called simply Jarvis.

Pilgrimage is the posthumously issued recording from tenor sax player Michael Brecker, who died earlier this year due to leukemia. The album features jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny.

Fresh Air's rock critic takes a listen to the 21st solo album from the former Beatle.

McCartney, who turned 65 today, launched Memory Almost Full with a free concert in London earlier this month — back when he was 64. It's an occasionally reflective life-and-loves disc that ranges from an upbeat dance-party opener to a farewell-to-love track.

Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, aka the folk-parody band Flight of the Conchords, hail from New Zealand and were named best alternative-comedy act at the 2005 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Now they're starring in an HBO series called, yes, Flight of the Conchords — which is, yes, about two transplanted New Zealanders living in New York City's Lower East side. It launches Sunday.

Country music singer Miranda Lambert returns with a second album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Her debut album, Kerosene, went platinum in 2005 and earned her a Grammy nomination.

A concert and conversation with Los Straitjackets, the Nashville-based indie-rock band that's made a name performing surf-rock classics from behind Mexican wrestling masks.

The group's latest album, Rock en Espanol, Vol. 1, features Spanish language versions of rock 'n' roll hits from the 1960s.

Tracks include "De Dia y de Noche" ("All Day and All Night"), popularized by the Kinks, "La Hiedra Venenosa" ("Poison Ivy"), made famous by the Coasters, and many more.

This interview first aired on June 11, 2007.