Search results for

of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Organizers compared it to Woodstock and predicted a quarter of a million people from church groups all over the country would attend -- but the crowd never got that big. Yesterday, Christian rock bands kept the kids entertained... today, the emphasis shifts from music to guest speakers like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

Host Melissa Block talks with Swedish musician and New Orleans resident Anders Osborne about his new album, Ash Wednesday Blues. Osborne used to travel all over the world, but now he wanders from genre to genre in his music. Featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's sousaphone player, his roots-rock is influenced by the lively and diverse music scene of New Orleans clubs.

The steel drum musical instrument was first created in Trinidad, hammered from biscuit boxes, brake drums and oil barrels. One of the biggest "steel pan" bands of the 1960s was the Esso Trinidad Tripoli Steelband, who gained worldwide fame when an unlikely patron heard their act and took them on tour. Lost and Found Sound presents a story of calypso music, steel drums and flamboyant pianist Liberace.

Several recent DVDs take up the history of punk music. Don Letts' Punk Attitude focuses on the ethos of teen rebellion, while All Dolled Up tells the story of the influential New York Dolls.

Commentator John Moe takes on the word "friend," a big word with a shifting definition. His band, Chicken Starship, has a MySpace page. And among the people listed as their friends are Elvis Costello, The Dixie Chicks, and Lucinda Williams. John knows that They Might Be Giants won't drive him to the airport -- but their friendship has to count for something.

OK Go's dance video for the song "A Million Ways" has become a sensation on the Internet... and it was never intended for public release. Robert Siegel talks with singer/guitarist Damian Kulash and his sister Trish Sie, who choreographed the dance.

The heart of the blues-rock group Heartless Bastards is Erika Wennerstrom, who wears hers on her sleeve. Her band's new album, The Mountain, features a bold, hard-hitting sound.

Legendary saxophonist Benny Carter, who helped launch the golden age of big-band jazz, dies at age 95. In his six-decade career, Carter performed or wrote music for jazz legends Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Carter was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987 and the congressional designation as a National Treasure of Jazz in 1988. NPR's Bob Edwards has a remembrance.

Billy May, a jazz trumpeter and composer best known for his critically acclaimed arrangements for Frank Sinatra, died last week at age 87. In the 1940s and '50s, May was one of the most sought-after arrangers for big-band music and American standards, working with stars such as Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. NPR's Bob Edwards has a remembrance.

Nicole Willis is a retro soul singer from Brooklyn. Her really tight band, the Soul Investigators, is from Finland. The group sounds like it's from Memphis – and it's one of Oliver Wang's favorites of the year so far.