Music

Exiled South African singer Miriam Makeba. At 20, she became the lead vocalist for a top South African band. And when her performances brought her international acclaim, she used her forum to speak out against Apartheid. She was subsequently banned from her native country, and then later from America for her marriage to the radical Stokely Carmichael. For the past 20 years, she's toured with her mentor, singer Harry Belafonte, and last year she toured with Paul Simon's Graceland Tour.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "How Ya Like Me Now?," the new album by Rap star Kool Moe Dee.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews Cho-Liang Lin's performance of Mozart's Third and Fifth Violin Concertos.

Rock singer, songwriter and record producer T-Bone Burnett. He's produced the work of musicians like Marshall Crenshaw, Los Lobos, Roy Orbison and Elvis Costello. In 1975, Burnett travelled and performed with Bob Dylan's "Rolling Thunder Review." Burnett's new solo album, which he produced and wrote the songs for, is titled "The Talking Animals."

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, best known for their sexually suggestive songs in the 50s about "Annie," a woman of dubious reputation.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the album "Nine Below Zero," by the trio of pianist Wayne Horvitz, cornettist Butch Morris and drummer Bobby Previte. Kevin says the album is one of the more successful attempts to humanize the new electronic instruments like synthesizers, drum machines and rhythm boxes.

Adrian Cronauer, the airman disk-jockey whose stint as a rebellious Armed Forces Radio Network announcer during the Vietnam war is the basis for the movie "Good Morning Vietnam," starring Robin Williams. Cronauer, 49, is a former announcer for WQXR in New York and is now studying communications law at The University of Pennsylvania.

Singer Margaret Whiting. Her father, Richard Whiting, wrote many of her most popular songs, including "Too Marvelous for Words," "My Ideal," "She's Funny That Way," and "On The Good Ship Lollipop." Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer and other great songwriters of the day were like uncles to her. She is now performing at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.

Folk singer Michael Cooney performs a song so bad that it's good.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the soundtrack for the movie "Less Than Zero." Though the movie was something of a flop, the soundtrack continues to produce hits.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new compact disc issue of Haydn performances with trumpet virtuoso Gerard Schwartz leading the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Avant-garde accordionist and composer Guy Klucevsek. Klucevsek grew up in western Pennsylvania, where polkas were a poplar musical form. Klucevsek has since developed an alternative polka style, best exemplified in his work on `"Polka From the Fringe," 23 three-minute polkas composed by a variety of experimental artists.

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the group Television, a band that helped launch the New York punk scene in the late-70s.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead pays tribute to Benny Carter, the elder statesman of the alto saxophone. He reviews the new American Jazz Orchestra recording of Carter compositions, featuring Carter, pianist John Lewis and bassist Ron Carter, among others.

Andrew Porter. He's the classical music critic for The New Yorker Magazine. He's just published a collection of his articles in a book titled Musical Events.

Country and blues guitarist Moses Rascoe returns to sing a few more songs.

Chicago-based composer, arranger and tenor saxophonist Edward Wilkerson. He leads the big band Shadow Vignettes, whose 1986 album, "Birth of a Notion," was on most jazz critic's lists as one of the top ten albums of that year. In Wilkerson's newest album, titled "Eight Bold Souls," he leads a smaller group, an octet.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Letters from Mississippi", a new album from Eddie Hinton that blends rock, soul and rhythm and blues.

The saxophonist and clarinetist, a student of Sidney Bechet and a specialist in early styles of the music, died Aug. 4 at the age of 91. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1988, excerpted here. (Hear the full interview through the Fresh Air archive.)

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the new recording of Philip Glass's opera, "Akhnaten". The performance features Paul Esswood in the title role, and Dennis Russell Davies conducting the Stuttgart State Opera and chorus.