Music

Husband and wife Cecil Womack and Linda Womack are songwriters who have decided to step into the limelight with their album "Love Wars." The child of a gospel singer, Cecil Womack sung with his brothers, including Bobby, as The Valentinos. Linda and Cecil met in the studio. Their album was noted by many critics in 1983.

On this edition of Secret Harmonies, Ken Tucker looks at "City Slicker" by soul musician J. Blackfoot, "Doppelganger" by rock group Kid Creole and the Coconuts, fronted by August Darnell, and "Forget About the Danger Think of the Fun" by rockabilly group The Leroi Brothers. (PARTIAL REVIEW)

Jazz legend BILLY TAYLOR is a pianist who has worked with his own trio as well as musicians such as Billie Holliday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Charlie Mingus, Art Tatum, and Miles Davis. Taylor is also a composer whose song "I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free" became a civil rights anthem. Taylor is also known for being the guiding force between the public radio programs "Jazz Alive" and "Billy Taylor's Piano Jazz." Currently, Taylor is the editor for the arts on the CBS Sunday morning program.

STEVE RASH is the director of the film "The Buddy Holly Story," a bio-pic of the early rock legend starring Gary Busey. Rash is also the director of "Under the Rainbow," a story of the "Munchkin" auditions for the film "The Wizard of Oz." Rash joins the show to discuss Holly's music and life, share records and rare recordings, and share stories about the making of the film.

Jazz trumpeter, cornetist, and composer Olu Dara describes his music as "rhythmic fusion," and is the leader of the Okra Orchestra. His live shows are unusual among jazz concerts due to their dancing audiences. Dara joins the show to discuss his life, career, and contemporary jazz.

Godfrey Reggio is an experimental filmmaker whose work makes uses of montage and sound. His first film, a documentary, "Koyaanisqatsi," derives its title from the Hopi word meaning "unbalanced life." The film manipulates images of cityscapes, and Reggio describes it as showing "the beauty of the beast." The film's music is composed by Philip Glass. Reggio intends the documentary to produce a mind-opening experience for the viewer through the fusion of music and image--to be inspiration, not entertainment.

Jane Ira Bloom is a jazz soprano saxophonist and composer. Her most recent album is "Mighty Lights." She joins the show to discuss her choice in instruments as a child, working as a woman in the jazz industry, and branching out into producing her own music.

George Rochberg discusses his work and modern composers working in classical styles.

Ethnomusicologist Steven Feld shares soundscapes of the daily life of indigenous rain forest communities in New Guinea. He explains the importance of song as a mode of communication in the cultures he studied.

Author Jack Chambers has a new biography about the life of jazz legend Miles Davis. Chambers pays special attention to the trumpeter's early years playing, recording, and living with saxophonist Charlie Parker.

Louis Armstrong grew up in poverty and was raised by a single mother. Despite his later success, he remained shy and modest until the end of his life. Biographer James Lincoln Collier looks at the jazz musician's personal and musical development in New Orleans and Chicago.

In her new memoir, Deborah Spungen remembers her daughter, who was the girlfriend of the Sex Pistols' bass player Sid Vicious. Vicious confessed to murdering Nancy, but died of a drug overdose before his conviction.

The pop singer, who has recently returned to the stage after a decades-long hiatus, is joined by pianist Mike Abene to perform several classic American songs.

By focusing on one legendary band, Dave Marsh's new book explores how the public personas of rock bands are cultivated, and how these affect the personal lives of working musicians.

New York-based artist and musician Laurie Audience's work initially catered mostly to her fellow artists. Now signed to the Warner record label, she is beginning to develop a broader fan base.

The singer and guitar player muses on the origins and definitions of folks music, his approach to writing children's songs, and the rigors of having been a traveling musician for over two decades.

Billy Kretchmer owned a popular Philadelphia club which was a destination for established and aspiring jazz musicians. He was also a clarinetist who led the house band. After health problems forced him to stop playing, Kretchmer closed the club in the 1960s. After several surgeries, he will perform again for the first time in 17 years.

The Philadelphia-based, all-woman punk and new wave band joins Fresh Air to listen to new songs and talk about their stage personas.

The band's lead singer Tracy Nelson made her mark as part of the Berkeley rock scene. She has since moved to Nashville, where she has been exploring her interest in blues, R&B and country music.

The acclaimed musician was a featured soloist in Count Basie's big band. He was awarded an achievement award from his hometown of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He looks back on his decades-long career as a working jazz musician.