Music

Singer Susannah McCorkle performs a tribute to composer Irving Berlin. McCorkle will perform tributes to Berlin each week at this time throughout the month.

Composer William Bolcom. He is best known for his humorous and accomplished piano accompaniment of his wife, the singer Joan Morris, in their performances of American popular songs. His own compositions include the vast choral cantata "Songs of Innocence and Experience," that sets the poems of William Blake to music. He won this year's Pulitzer Prize in Music. Bolcom is also renown for his ragtime compositions, especially his work "Graceful Ghost."

Exiled South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. In the 60's, Masekela was probably best known for his instrumental hit, "Grazing In The Grass." More recently, Masekela performed with Paul Simon during his the Graceland tour.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "Shoes Best," a collection of 22 songs by Shoes, a grass-roots band from Zion, Illinois that is still trying to make it in the rock world on their own terms, without glitz and hype. They grant few interviews, never tour, and insist on complete control of their image.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz pays tribute to Irving Berlin, arguably the greatest American song writer, on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Schwartz will review a new recording of Berlin songs performed by Elizabeth Welch.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the brief regional revival of a cappella singing in the mid-60s. Some of the groups included The Five Fashions from Stanford, Conn., The Q-Tones from Philadelphia, and the Zircons from the Bronx.

Orchestrator and composer Jonathan Tunick. Though best known for his orchestrations of Stephen Sondheim musicals like "Sweeney Todd" and "Into the Woods," Tunic is increasingly gaining recognition for his own compositions.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a CD reissue of the recordings of tenor saxophonist Don Byas. The recording is titled "Don Byas on Blue Star," and captures the highlights of his recorded work during the period between 1947 and 1952.

Singer Susannah McCorkle performs a tribute to composer Irving Berlin, who turns 100 on May 11. McCorkle will perform tributes to Berlin each week at this time throughout the month.

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews the debut album of singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new recording that features the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras performing Mozart serenades.

Rock star, teen throb and matinee idol Rick Springfield. Springfield, who starred in the popular daytime soap "General Hospital," has a new album, his first in three years.

Violinist Isaac Stern. During the past 50 years he has become one of the most renowned and recorded violinists in classical music.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles one of the most eccentric rock groups from the other side of the Atlantic - the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (circa late 1960s). They infused their music with a typically British brand of humor, such as that associated with Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Cabaret singer Wesla [sometimes Weslia] Whitfield. Ten years ago, she was paralyzed after she was shot in the back during a hold-up. She has since established herself as one of San Francisco's most popular cabaret singers.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Twilight Dreams," the third album by Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy. With the exception of drums, the band consists entirely of brass instruments.

New Orleans pianist and singer Mac Rebennack, a.k.a. Dr. John, performs the last segment of a seven-part performance series. Up to now he's payed homage to other New Orleans musicians, like Professor Longhair and Louis Armstrong. But this time he plays his own music. He calls it "homegrown Dr. John the Night Tripper Music."

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "Crossroads," the 2-CD, 73-song retrospective of the 25-year career of British guitarist Eric Clapton. The package includes previously unreleased material.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a 1939 live performance of the Bloch Violin Concerto performed by the Hungarian soloist Joseph Szigeti and conducted by Willem Mengelberg.

British conductor Simon Rattle. While Rattle has won acclaim for his guest conducting in America and Europe, he is best known for the success of his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Rattle's success has created a new legitimacy in England for regional orchestras. The orchestra is now touring in America.