Music

Giles Martin says he included outtakes and raw performances in the new box set to show "how human the making of Sgt. Pepper was." The original album was produced by Martin's father, George.

with excerpts from her Fresh Air interviews and concerts. She died last weekend after jumping to her death. She was 55. She had 17 albums to her credit and a repertoire of more than 3000 songs. Besides being a literate interpreter of American popular song, she was also a prose writer who published fiction in Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan and The O. Henry Book of Short Stories. We also talk with Susannah McCorkle's ex-husband and former manager Dan Dinicola.(REBROADCASTS from 7/17/87, 12/23/88, 4/12/91, 7/3/96).

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Styles' self-titled solo album, as well as Waiting on a Song, by Auerbach of The Black Keys. Tucker says the new albums "meet in a middle-ground of forced humility."

Presley makes a passionate, pointed plea about the current state of country music on her new album. Critic Ken Tucker says that despite its melodramatic nature, Wrangled is subtle, nuanced and clever.

A new collection presents synthesizer dance music from the Cape Verde islands in the '70s and '80s. Critic Milo Miles says the music on Synthesize The Soul will sweeps you up with energy and rhythm.

Paul Steinbeck's new book chronicles the antics, both on and off stage, of the storied jazz ensemble. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Message to Our Folks celebrates the band's success on their own terms.

Rhiannon Giddens brings her banjo to the studio and sings some songs from her new solo album which includes original songs based on slave narratives.

The reissued album features the sound of the South African musician once known as Dollar Brand. Critic Kevin Whitehead says: "When Abdullah got a-rumbling, his piano was like a force of nature."

Fitzgerald, who died in 1996, had her first hits with Chick Webb's big band before going out on her own in the 1940s. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Fitzgerald at her best is as good as it gets.

The country singer teams up with producer Lenny Kaye on her new record of spiritual songs. Critic Ken Tucker says the result is one of the most distinctive recordings he's heard in a while.

The New-Orleans-born trumpeter salutes the earliest jazz recordings on his new album. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Ruler Rebel showcases Adjuah's "commanding personal voice and ... sense of direction."

Growing up, punk rocker Laura Jane Grace always felt conflicted about gender. She tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that she felt like two "twin souls" were warring inside of her, fighting for control. "I thought that I was quite possibly schizophrenic," she says.

Though the Tennessee-born musician lives in Brooklyn now, she still takes inspiration from the Gospel music she grew up with. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews June's latest album.

Shirey mixes dry vocals with multi-instrumentalist stylings on his new album. Critic Milo Miles says A Bottle of Whiskey and a Handful of Bees is an original and engaging work.

Monk Dreams, Hallucinations and Nightmares, by the Finish-born pianist and composer, is a meditation on Thelonious Monk's "odd but catchy melodies," says jazz critic Kevin Whitehead.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead remembers Mengelberg, who died Friday, as a "musical anarchist" who taught classical counterpoint and wrote dozens of catchy melodies.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews the British group The xx's third album. "Beneath its sleek beauty, there's a fresh joyousness ... that at its best is something close to inspirational," he says of I See You.

The Puerto Rican jazz musician leads his long-running quartet on his new album. Critic Kevin Whitead says Típico is full of "feverishly intricate music that ... comes from the heart."

She has a new solo recording out this month, At Last. Knight began her singing career at age 4. Since that modest start, she went on to lead one of the most successful vocal soul groups in America, Gladys Knight and The Pips. The group stayed together for 39 years before disbanding.Among, the group's most notable songs include: I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Neither One of Us, and Midnight Train to Georgia. Knight then launched a solo career. Terry interviewed Knight before a live audience in San Francisco in 1996.

The legendary alto sax player began playing saxophone at the age of 15 in native New York City. Schooled in bebop at the start of his career, McLean names Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Charlie Parker as influences. He's played with jazz greats pianist Bud Powell, Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. He continues to play and record today. He also teaches music at the University of Hartford.