Miles Davis Audio

Each week, the Soundcheck staff digs through our inboxes to find the best new music. The Hold Steady "Stay Positive" (Vagrant) One of indie-rock’s top bands, The Hold Steady has been on a tear since moving from Minnesota to Brooklyn. Their latest, "Stay Positive," still has the band’s odd combination of heartland rock’n’roll with Craig Finn’s slice-of-life storytelling. But Finn, who has a distinctive speech/song delivery, actually gets closer to genuine singing on songs like "Sequestered in Memphis." --John Schaefer Ahmad Jamal, "It’s Magic" (Birdology/Dreyfus Jazz) In the 50s, pianist Ahmad Jamal was a major influence on Miles Davis . Jamal’s music contrasted simple and complex, sound and silence, can be clearly heard on the album "Miles Ahead." These days Jamal is sampled by rappers like Jay-Z and Nas. And the 77-year-old composer, producer and pianist continues to make music. His new album, “It’s Magic,” features him accompanied by drums, bass and percussion in an exhilarating recording. --Gisele Regatao Dennis Wilson, “Pacific Ocean Blue” and “Bambu” (Caribou/Sony) Until now, this flawed rock masterpiece has been tough to find. “Pacific Ocean Blue” was the only solo album released by Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. When it came out in 1977, it revealed an introspective side of this handsome, funloving drummer. Sadly, his new career would be cut short. Dennis Wilson drowned in 1983 while diving off his boat. He was 39 years old. The reissue comes with an unfinished album called Bambu" that hints at what might have been. --Joel Meyer

Some say the vanguard of jazz, America's quintessential music, is now coming out of Europe. Today, a Soundcheck Smackdown debate on whether European jazz is threatening the dominance of the US as the cradle of the art form. Joining us is Will Layman , a jazz critic who writes for Popmatters.com, NPR and other publications and Peter Margasak , a staff writer for the weekly Chicago Reader and the author of "The European Scene" column for DownBeat magazine.

Some of the greatest jazz groups have lousy names. No wonder all the “quartets” and “quintets” seem alike. Today, we examine how to fix jazz’s image problem with Will Layman , a jazz critic who writes for Pop Matters, NPR and other publications; and Anne Mette Iversen , a composer and bassist who leads the Anne Mette Iversen Quartet.

Studio 360 is ripped from the headlines. High drama hits the campaign trail, and we reveal the private lives of striking writers. When federal agents raid California art collections, museum directors around the country start shaking in their boots. Plus, we remember Andy Palacio, a rising pop star and cultural ambassador from Belize.

Indispensable greatness in music, novels, and cake. Kurt talks with jazz legend Herbie Hancock and novelist Ian McEwan. Hancock is up for album of the year at the Grammy’s, and the cinematic adaptation of McEwan’s novel Atonement just won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. We discover the strange tormented stateside life of Viennese composer Gustav Mahler. And a baker praises the one appliance she could never do without: the KitchenAid mixer.

Anne Midgette, the interim chief classical music critic of the Washington Post, shares her favorite recordings of 2007. Anne Midgette's top albums of 2007 list (in no particular order) Bach: Goldberg Variations; Simone Dinnerstein, piano (Telarc) Reich: Music for 18 Musicians; Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble (Innova) Stockhausen: Stimmung; Theater of Voices; Paul Hillier, director (Harmonia Mundi France) Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-9; Russian National Orchestra; Mikhail Pletnev, conductor "Arie di Bravura"; Diana Damrau, soprano (Virgin) "Revelation"; Michael Harrison, piano (Cantaloupe)

It's a question that is as difficult to answer as it is revealing about one's musical tastes: What album would you take to a desert island? We talk with Phil Freeman, editor of Marooned: The Next Generation of Desert Island Discs, about this time-honored musical dilemma. Plus, music critics Greg Tate and Ian Christe explain their picks. Weigh in: tell us about your ultimate desert-island disc.

After three decades, hip hop is more segmented than ever, by both regional styles (East Coast, West Coast, Dirty South) and in stylistic terms (Gangsta rap, conscious hip-hop, "alternative" rap). From these many parts a canon is emerging and today we debate its meaning. Joining us is Mark Anthony Neal , associate professor of Black Popular Culture at Duke University; and Brian Coleman , author of Check the Technique .

At 82, Roy Haynes is arguably the last legendary jazz drummer still out on the bandstand. Haynes has played with Miles, Bird, Billie and Coltrane, just to name a few. He looks back on his career and talks about a four-disc box set called "A Life in Time: The Roy Haynes Story."

We cross the oceans and back again. Director Mira Nair talks about making movies between two worlds –- Calcutta and New York. An Austrian designer raves about his favorite album cover of all time. And back home we look at an American classic: Miles Davis ’s Kind of Blue -- perhaps the most recognizable, and the best-selling, jazz record ever.