Music

The 82-year-old songwriter mixes serious contemplation with mordant humor on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says You Want It Darker features some of Cohen's simplest, most effective lyrics.

In the 1940s and '50s, Jackson was the most famous gospel singer in the world. A new record, Moving On Up A Little Higher, presents never-released tracks from that era. Critic Milo Miles has a review.

Enter Me

The New Zealand band began releasing records on the Flying Nun label in the 1980s. Four decades later, they are still at it. Rock historian Ed Ward tells story of The Chills.

Best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead, Weir goes solo on his new album, which was inspired by his time working as a ranch hand in Wyoming as a teen. Critic Ken Tucker has a review.

Enter Me

Dacus mixes plainspoken language with rock-music instrumentation on her debut album. Critic Ken Tucker says the singer-songwriter's vulnerability goes against the grain of much current pop music.

Producer, composer and arranger Thom Bell was one of the prime originators of the Sound of Philadelphia, creating hits with the Delfonics such as "La La La Means I Love You" and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind." Bell was born in Jamaica and moved to Philadelphia at age 5. He planned to become a classical conductor, but in his early 20s, he was signed by Cameo Records to create a Philadelphia version of Motown.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the newest album from Spoon, Gimme Fiction.

He's been awarded the 2005 Pianist of the Year award by the Jazz Journalist's Association, and he also received the first ever 2005 Playboy Magazine Jazz Artist of the Year. His new album is called Same Mother, which reflects the 30-year-old musician's current interest in the blues.

Though Olsen sets pain and frustration to music in her latest album, critic Ken Tucker says it's clear that the singer is "very much in control of her emotions and her life."

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new three-and-a-half-hour documentary about Bob Dylan called No Direction Home by director Martin Scorsese. It's available on a two-disc DVD and will be shown on PBS as part of the American Masters series.

Ryan Speedo Green grew up in a trailer park and did time in juvenile detention before discovering he had a unique singing voice. He now performs at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Married couple Rennie and Brett Sparks have been making songs together as The Handsome Family for 21 years. In 2014, they gained much wider fame when their haunting song, "Far From Any Road," became the theme for the first season of HBO's True Detective.

Drummer Jim Black slips rock-ish beats beats under a jazz groove on his trio's new album. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the sound on The Constant has a distinctive edge that "pops out of the speakers."

Waldon puts a distinctive spin on classic country with her new album. Critic Ken Tucker calls her singing, which avoids excessive emotion or embellishment, "the musical version of hard-boiled prose."

As a guitarist in Wilco, Nels Cline is known for his sonic explorations with feedback, distortion and unfettered improvisation. His new album, Lovers, is a collection of lushly arranged versions of American popular songs, covers and originals.

Cherry joined with four internationally known jazz improvisers for a playful session at a Swiss festival in 1980. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the music they made still sounds fresh 36 years later.

A new drama series on Netflix chronicles the rise of early hip-hop music in the late '70s. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the show's soundtrack is dense, complex and delightful.

As one of the very first bebop tenor saxophonists, Teddy Edwards mixed awesome technique with irresistibly slinky phrases. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews two reissues, Inimitable and Feelin's.