Music

The 1946 Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer musical St. Louis Woman is being revived at the Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia. (thru June 25th) The musical – which was written for and features an African-American cast –features the songs “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “I Had Myself a True Love,” and “Anywhere I Hang My Hat is Home.” We talk with two individuals, first: Larry Maslon who rewrote the libretto for the show. Maslon is professor of theatre at New York University.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Britney Spears “Oops! Did It Again” and Hanson’s “Third Time Around.”

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews “Hollywood Swing & Jazz: Hot Numbers from Classic MGM, Warner Bros., and R.K.O. Films” (a Rhino box).

Ex-co-leader of the septet Squirrel Nut Zippers, Tom Maxwell. His new recording as a solo artist is “Samsara” (Samsara Ltd.) On the album he continues the work he started with the Zippers, harkening the sound of hot jazz, but also blues and gospel, Country and Western, and even Chinese opera.

Singer/Songwriter Aimee Mann. She’s best known for her work on the soundtrack for the film “Magnolia.” Her song “Save Me” from the film was nominated for an Oscar. Her new release is “Bachelor No. 2.” Previously the album was available over her website (Aimeemann.com) and at her concert performances. Now it is available in stores. Mann and her manager had bought the master tapes from her record label in an effort to retain creative and marketing control. It’s the first recording to be released on Mann’s Superego Records.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Billy Bragg and Wilco's album Mermaid Avenue, Volume 2.

Nadine Cohodas is the author of “Spinning Blues into Gold: the Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records” (St. Martin’s Press). It’s the story of brothers Leonard and Phil Chess, Jewish immigrants from Poland, who knew little about music, but somehow created the influential blues label, Chess Records. Muddy Waters helped them see the potential in the music and they went on to record Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry, and others. Chess Records was located in Chicago.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the world-premiere recording of Kurt Weill’s opera Die Buergschaft—The Pledge (on EMI). It’s one of Weill’s most neglected works first performed in Berlin in 1932, and was revived last year during the Spoleto Festival USA.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two new albums: “Broke Down” by singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves, and “Toad of Titicaca” by Gurf Morlix.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews “Dusk” (Palmetto) the new CD by pianist Andrew Hill.

World music critic Milo Miles reviews some funny rap music, “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome” (Nijatunes) by the Canadian DJ Eric San, MC Paul Barman’s “It’s Very Stimulating” (WordSound), and “Green Velvet” (F-111) by the DJ Green Velvet.

Jim DeRogatis is the author of “Let it Blurt: The Life & Times of Lester Bangs, America’s Greatest Rock Critic” (Broadway Books). Bangs wrote about rock ‘n’ roll for the Rolling Stone, Cream, and The Village Voice. DeROGATIS describes him as, “the great gonzo journalist, gutter poet, and romantic visionary of rock writing—its Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski, and Jack Kerouac all rolled into one.”

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz talks about making the familiar fresh and the unfamiliar accessible. He has a review of two recent concerts.
Description (Program)

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews “Figure 8” by Elliott Smith, and “Allow Me” by Jules Shear.

In this program we hear selections of his music performed by singers Vernel Bagneris and Terry Burrell, and pianist Dick Hyman. We also hear from Marva Carter who is writing a biography of Cook. She is the director of Graduate Studies at the School of Music at Georgia State University.

Conductor Maurice Peress. He specializes in reconstructing historic American concerts. He’s worked with Ellington and Bernstein, and is the author of the forthcoming book, “Living With American Music: Dvorak to Duke Ellington.”

Performances continue and we hear from Tom Riis who compiled and edited a book containing the complete score of “In Dahomey.” Riis directs the American Music Research Center at the University of Colorado and is the author of “Just Before Jazz.”

Our guest pianist tomorrow will be Dick Hyman. One of our guest singers will be Vernel Bagneris who has explored this period in his own musical revues. To give you a preview, we asked him to sing a sing that he's performed on stage, which was originated by Bert Williams. It's called "Somebody Lied."

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews “Sonny Rollins: The Freelance Years: The Complete Riverside & Contemporary Recordings” (Riverside)

Singer/guitarist Alex Chilton has been playing music for decades. As a teenager he was a member of the Memphis Band Box Tops. He was 16 years old when they recorded their hit, the R&B song “The Letter.” Later with the band “Big Star” he became a underground hero. After dropping out of sight to kick an alcohol addiction, Chilton returned to performing. By then many younger bands, REM and The Bangles, considered him a legend. Chilton’s new release (as a part of a trio) “Set” (bar-none) was recorded on the spur of the moment, and without overdubbing.