Music

Rock critic Ken Tucker comments on the way rock music may be once again uniting people of different race and class again.

Critic Milo Miles reviews the newest book by Walter Mosely. It's not an Easy Rawlins book. It's R.L.'S Dream, (Norton) a book about the blues told in the voice of down and out, country-blues musician Soupspoon.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a new box-set of film music by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, "A Fistful of Film Music" (Rhino).

Music director and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. This month he took over the San Francisco Symphony. He's been conducting for 25 years. At the age of 24 years old he was appointed assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony, and began filling in regularly as conductor when the musical director's health began to fail. THOMAS was mentored by Leonard Bernstein. However, Thomas's roots are in the theater: His grandparents were Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, who founded the Yiddish theater in New York. There's a new book about him, Michael Tilson Thomas: Viva Voce.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a reissue by the late mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian: Luciano Berio's "Recital I for Cathy and Folk Songs." (RCA)

Guest film critic Steve Vineberg reviews "Nadja" a vampire movie set in contemporary New York City. David Lynch was executive producer, and has a cameo role.

British writer Nick Hornby. His autobiographical memoir about being an obsessed soccer fan, Fever Pitch (1992, now in paperback, Penguin) achieved cult status. With his second book, and his first novel High-Fidelity one reviewer writes that Hornby has "established himself in England as a maestro of the male confessional." High-Fidelity (Riverhead Books, div. of Putnam) is about 36-year old Rob Fleming, an obsessed record-collector, who's just lost his girlfriend, a casualty of his devotion to music.

Rock writer and critic Robert Palmer. He was the New York Times's first full-time rock writer and chief pop critic, and he's a contributing editor at Rolling Stones. He's written several books on blues and rock and roll, and was the writer and music director for the award-winning documentary films, "The World According to John Coltrane," and "Deep Blues." His latest work is chief advisor to the ten-part PBS documentary, "Rock & Roll: An Unruly History," currently airing on PBS. He's also a companion book (Harmony Books).

Pop star Boy George. In 1982, he and his band Culture Club first hit the charts with, "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" He has a new autobiography in which he says he got "trapped" in the image he created. His band feel apart, his relationship, and he developed a drug addiction. He's now recovered. He has a new autobiography, Take It Like a Man: The Autobiography of Boy George. (written with George O'Dowd, published by HarperCollins.) He also has a new release, "Cheapness & Beauty," (Virgin).

Guitarist Danny Amis from the band, "Los Straitjackets." The group hails from Nashville. They perform in Mexican wrestling masks, and play instrumental surf-rock with a "dark vibe lurking in the mix." (Guitar Player). They have a new CD, "The Utterly fantastic and totally unbelievable sound of. . . Los Straitjackets." (Upstart records 617-354-0700).

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Bjork's album "Post."

Actor/comic Kevin Pollack. He got his start in standup. It was his performance in Barry Levinson's "Avalon," as Izzy the TV salesman, that catapulted his acting career. Since then he's appeared in "A Few Good Men," "Miami Rhapsody" and "Grumpy Old Men." He's currently starring in "The Usual Suspects." Later this Fall you can see him in the new Martin Scorsese film, "Casino."

World music critic Milo Miles reviews "Grayfolded" by the Canadian avant-gardist John Oswald which is two extended versions of the Grateful Dead song "Dark Star." Using a technique called "plunderphonics" Oswald took recordings from the Dead and manipulated them electronically. (If you can't find the album in your record store, it can be ordered from Swell Productions, 253 College St., #295, Toronto, Canada, M5T 1R5. Phone: 416-531-33330.)

Composer Philip Glass. His latest work is a new score for the 1946 Jean Cocteau film adaptation of "La Belle et la Bête" ("Beauty and the Beast"). Glass's score includes four voices who sing a libretto, based on the screenplay. Glass has toured the live music-film event in Europe and the United States. One reviewer called it "a beautiful, superbly integrated work." (Time, Dec. 19, 1994). (The score is available on Nonesuch Records.)

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new reissue of the original soundtrack for The Wizard of Oz, a 2-CD set that includes some music never used in the film. (Rhino)

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a cd featuring Carl Stalling's cartoon music. From 1936 to 1958 Stalling composed music for Warner Brother's cartoons including: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the Road Runner. The title is "The Carl Stalling Project, Vol. 2, Warner Bros."

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews two new productions by Peter Sellars.

World Music critic Milo Miles on Chinese rock star Cui Jian. His latest album is "Balls Under the Red Flag" (Look for it in local Chinatown music stores).

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Kissingsohard" on the Forward label (distributed by Rhino) by The John Doe Thing.

Ben Sandmel and Luderin Darbone are two members of the Cajun band "The Hackberry Ramblers." Darbone is a founding member of the band who is now in his 80s. The Ramblers started in 1933 in Louisiana. The Ramblers were among the first Cajun bands to abandon the accordion's dominance for the more American guitar-fiddle string band sound. In 1993, The Ramblers released their first album in 30 years titled "Cajun Boogie." prior to this album the Ramblers recorded on the Bluebird Label.