James Brown Audio

"String Poetic," Jennifer Koh, violin; Reiko Uchida, piano (Cedille) The New York violinist Jennifer Koh and her frequent piano collaborator Reiko Uchida shape a century’s worth of American contemporary music on the new album "String Poetic." The disc features rare and unusual works by Carl Ruggles, Lou Harrison and John Adams. But the biggest draw is the title piece, Jennifer Higdon’s "String Poetic." This five-movement suite is one of the freshest and most appealing new works for violin that we’ve heard in a long while. It spans a range of moods – from the slow, ethereal "Nocturne," to the breathless movement called "Jagged Climb," in which the violinist seems to be scampering up a mountain peak at full throttle. --picked by Brian Wise Laura Marling, "Alas, I Cannot Swim" (Astralwerks) Our next CD pick of the week comes from -- you guessed it -- another incredibly talented young woman from the UK! Eighteen-year-old folkie Laura Marling aims to join a successful, transatlantic crowd that includes Lily Allen, piano-pop star Kate Nash, Welsh neo-soul diva Duffy, the brassy upstart Adele, and and a certain troublemaker whose name rhymes with "Schmamy Vinemouse." On a full-length debut called "Alas, I Cannot Swim," Laura Marling does more than keep her head above water, buoyed by rapid-fire confessional lyrics and a voice that can hang with any of her British sisters. Or brothers. The album is available on iTunes and gets a CD release in August. --picked by Joel Meyer Etenesh & Le Tigre, "Enaf" , (Buda Records) Our final pick this week is an album of Ethiopian pop played by a French jazz band. Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, was known as “Swinging Addis” in the late 60s/early 70s, when a strange and potent brew of European brass band music, Indian film music, James Brown funk, and Ethiopian folk took hold. Now, Le Tigre des Platanes, a French jazz quintet, and the Ethiopian singer Etenesh, have recorded contemporary arrangements of some classic Ethiopop. The album is called “Zeraf!” --picked by John Schaefer

Members of the Young at Heart Chorus range in age from 72 to 88 and are known for their performances of rock songs. Director Bob Cilman and chorus member Jean Florio talk about their upcoming concert at the Beacon Theater and confounding society’s expectations for the elderly.

Rapper and actor Ice-T is set to perform tonight with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. In the performance, he will narrate "Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz," a poem from the 1960s by Langston Hughes. And while an ISO performance of Ice-T's classic album "O.G.: Original Gangster" is not on the program, tonight is not the first time classical music has backed an MC. We talk with writer Jayson Greene Our blog : John Schaefer at the crossroads of hip hop and classical

The 62nd annual Tony awards pretty much conformed to expectation on last night at Radio City Music Hall. The sincere and salsa-inflected "In the Heights" trumped the wildly audacious rock musical "Passing Strange" to take the Tony for best new musical. Lincoln Center Theater's acclaimed revival of South Pacific took home the most awards with seven Tony Awards overall. Time Out New York theater critic David Cote joins us to offer his reaction to Broadway’s biggest night. Our blog : John Schaefer on this year's Tony awards Weigh in: What do you think were the biggest surprises at this year's Tony Awards?

Saxophonist Maceo Parker helped create the sound of funk in the 60s as right-hand man to James Brown . But before that he was influenced by Ray Charles. Parker pays tribute to Charles in a new two-disc album featuring him singing with Germany’s WDR Big Band. Maceo Parker joins us to talk about the record, "Roots & Grooves." Maceo Parker performs Wed. Jun. 18 at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple at 8pm, as part of the JVC Jazz Festival.

New York-based band Groove Collective has played with everyone from B.B. King to the Dave Matthews Band and Tupac Shakur. They join us in studio for a live performance of their mix of funk, jazz, Latin, hip hop and rock. Groove Collective perform tonight at Joe's Pub at 9:30pm.

If you’ve ever dreamed of leading an orchestra on stage, there's a new video game to satisfy your urge. The UBS Virtual Maestro allows would-be Leonard Bernsteins to lead their own "virtual orchestra" via an electronic Wii controller. As the game currently tours concert halls across the U.S., we hear from one of its developers, Yuri Ivanov. And there's another reason for conductors to be concerned for their job security: On Tuesday night, Asimo, a 4-foot-3-inch Hondo robot led the Detroit Symphony in a performance of "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha." Detroit Free Press music critic Mark Stryker tells us about it. Our blog : John Schaefer on "toying" with musical skills Tell us : Are music simulators good or bad for music? Can they spark new interest, or do they "cheapen" the study of music?

Creativity against all odds. A stroke survivor dictates his memoir by blinking his left eye, a story told in the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." We’ll explore an Emily Dickinson poem written from beyond the grave in our American Icons series. And Jack Handey takes on our extraterrestrial enemies, in a story called "What I'd Say to the Martians."

Creativity against all odds. A stroke survivor dictates his memoir by blinking his left eye, a story told in the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." We’ll explore an Emily Dickinson poem written from beyond the grave in our American Icons series. And Jack Handey takes on our extraterrestrial enemies, in a story called "What I'd Say to the Martians."

Changes are coming to 125th Street. Plans to rezone Harlem’s main artery look headed for approval in the city council, after a compromise to limit the height of new buildings to 19 stories. The amo....