Music

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the new recording of Kurt Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins," featuring the New York Philharmonic and soprano Angelina Reaux.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Blues Nexus," the new recording by James Spaulding, who plays flute in addition to alto saxophone.

Rock Historian Ed Ward looks back at Ike Turner's career before Tina, when he secured his place in American Pop music history.

Chicago police officer Eric Davis, known as "21" in the rap group the Slick Boys. Davis and two other officers founded the group in 1991 to provide positive role models for the inner-city kids they encountered on their jobs every day. The group has received national acclaim for their songs about the importance of getting an education and staying off of drugs and out of gangs. Davis grew up in the Cabrini-Green development of Chicago, where the three officers work.

Ramone has been called the "Pope of pop," producing and engineering artists from Bob Dylan to Gloria Estefan, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and dozens of others. Last year he produced Frank Sinatra's "Duets 2." Ramone has just finished recording a classical album with the Curtis Institute Orchestra and produced the cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's "Passion."

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews new releases by alto saxophonist Gary Bartz: Episode One, Children of Harlem (Challenge) and The Red and Orange Poems (Atlantic).

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new solo album by slide guitarist Sonny Landreth, "South of I-10."

Rock historian Ed Ward reviews Rhino's new "Doo Wop Box." Listening to it, he says he's surprised by how much he didn't now about the genre.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz recommends reissued recordings of conductor Sir Thomas Beecham on the Pearl label.

Taylor died Monday at age 65. He played with Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. His recent book "Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews" features conversations with fellow musicians. It was one of the few books about black jazz musicians by a black man. We replay our 1994 interview with Taylor.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new recording by Dionne Farris, who used to sing with Arrested Development.

Graffin is the lead singer of the punk band Bad Religion. The group started 15 years ago and helped pioneer the hard rock/punk style of bands like Green Day and Offspring. Bad Religion's eighth recording is "Stranger Than Fiction," and it's their first on a major label. When Graffin isn't performing, he's spending time with his wife and child or working on his Ph.D. in Biology at Cornell.

Johnson was a member of The Johnson Family, which sang gospel and country music for two decades. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a fan; the group was invited to sing at his memorial service. Johnson went solo in the late-1950s, and was a regular on Don McNeill's "Breakfast Club" and Jack Paar's TV show. After making a dozen records, she left show business to raise a family and earn a degree in drama at Dartmouth. She has since returned to her singing career, with a cabaret act at The Oak Room. Her new album is called "A Family Affair."

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new disc of the American composer's lesser known works, called "Mostly About Love."

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two collections by country singer George Jones, plus a new release by Jones. The albums are "Cup of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years," "The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country," and "The Bradley Barn Sessions."

Lowe's newest recording is "The Impossible Bird." In the early 1970s, he played London's pub rock scene in the band Brinsley Schwarz. After they broke up in 1975, Lowe produced five albums for Elvis Costello and worked with Dave Edmunds in the group Rockpile. He begins a national concert tour this month in the United States.

World music critic Milo Miles reviews the new album by Sengalese musician Baaba Maal, called "Firin' in Fouta."

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the new Helen Merrill release, "Brownie," a tribute to Clifford Browne, on the Verve label.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Dookie," the first major-label album by the punk band Green Day.

Editor-in-Chief of Billboard Magazine Timothy White has written a new book that traces the evolution of the "myth" of Southern California through the lens of the Beach Boys and the Wilson family. It's called "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience."