Music

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new albums from The Buzzcocks and Paul Weller, the frontman from the band The Jam. The album titles are Buzzcocks and Illumination.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Perpetuum Immobile (on the Leo label) by pianist Simon Nabatov.

He began studying violin at the age of four and later attended the Moscow Conservatory. Over the years he has won the most prestigious violinist prizes, including the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Paganini Competition in Genoa. His repertoire is extensive, including the standard classical and Romantic violin works as well as works by Arvo Part, John Adams and Astor Piazzolla. He has more than 100 recordings to his credit, including Happy Birthday, his most recent.

We remember singer/ songwriter HANK BALLARD. He wrote and recorded the song Chubby Checker later made famous, “The Twist.” Ballard died Sunday after a bout with throat cancer. This interview was recorded in 1993.

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.

With his writing partner, Fred Ebb, Kander wrote the music for the original Broadway musical Chicago. The movie version of Chicago is nominated for 13 Academy Awards this year. Kander and Ebb are nominated for their song "I Move On." Kander and Ebb also wrote the music for the shows Cabaret, The Act, Woman of the Year, and Flora the Red Meance, and the Martin Scorsese movie musical New York, New York. Both Chicago and Cabaret have recently been revived on Broadway.

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.

Composer Alf Clausen, the man behind the music of The Simpsons. This interview first aired May 14, 1997.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Extended Family (Tapestry), the CD of a quartet led by tenor saxophonist Fred Hess.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Up!, the new double CD by country star Shania Twain

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.

Classical Music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new series of operetta re-issues on DRG and Ralph Benatzky's Bewitched Maiden on the Preiser label.

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews “The Time of Our Singing” by Richard Powers.

Music critic Ken Tucker reviews American Life, the new CD by Madonna.

Kevin Whitehead reviews two albums: Gong With the Wind Suite from Lee Konitz and Matt Wilson, and the newly remastered Theme and Variations from John LaPorta.

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.