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The British actor and singer played abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet, and Aretha Franklin in Genius: Aretha. Now Erivo has a debut album. "I sing often with a bit of a smile," she says.

Fred Ho has combined improvisation with Asian themes to create his own form of political activism. Now, at age 56, Ho is dying of cancer.

WBGO's Nate Chinen was joined by saxophonist Branford Marsalis and harpist Brandee Younger in a live conversation about this recently unearthed live recording.

The art of collaboration is the bedrock of hip-hop. And when these kindred spirits collab, they produce a body of work deep enough to drown out the noise.

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with singer and songwriter Joy Crookes about her debut album, Skin.

Almost a year since former Beatles guitarist George Harrison died of cancer, his final studio album, Brainwashed, hits the record stores Tuesday. NPR's Bob Boilen talks to longtime collaborator Jeff Lynne and Harrison's only son, Dhani Harrison, about putting the finishing touches on George Harrison's swan song.

Lynn Neary talks with counter-tenor David Daniels. When Daniels was training in graduate school at the University of Michigan he sang tenor but felt it wasn't his true singing voice. With help from a therapist, he decided counter-tenor was what he should be singing. He's had a very successful career as a counter-tenor and will perform in the first ever counter-tenor solo concert at Carnegie Hall tomorrow night. The music heard in this piece was: Vivaldi: "Fac ut ardeat" from Stabat Mater (Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45474-2 3); Handel: "Ombra mai fu" from opera Serse (Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45326-2-7); Handel: "Cara speme" from opera Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Virgin Veritas 7243-5-45326-2-7); Handel: "Despair No More Shall Wound Me" from opera Semele (Virgin Classics 7243-5-45497-2-4).

Detroit is not Tinseltown, but the city is home to a pair of new films: 8 Mile, starring rapper Eminem, and Standing in the Shadow of Motown, a documentary about the musicians who played on virtually every Motown hit. Hear more from NPR's John Ydstie and Weekend Edition entertainment critic Elvis Mitchell.

For her Tiny Desk (home) concert, Yasmin Williams keeps the background sparse to foreground her inventive playing.

With his quartet, Sex Mob, he's just released a new CD called Diaspora Blues. Last year, the band released a CD paying homage to the music of James Bond films. It's called Sex Mob Does Bond and is the sextet's third album. Bernstein also heads two other groups: Diaspora Soul, which specializes in performing versions of ancient Jewish melodies, and Millennial Territory Orchestra, with which he explores jazz from the 1920s and 1930s. This interview first aired November 21, 2001.