New music

This latest album by pianist/composer Billy Childs is an entertaining treat from beginning to end. His quartet has Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums. These four accomplished musicians take a wonderful playlist and completely nail it.

New this week: Brooke Shields, ‘Grease’ prequel and NF album

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.

MOVIES

— “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” a two-part documentary debuting Monday on Hulu, reconsiders how Shields was sexualized throughout pop culture as a child model and as the 12-year-old star of Louis Malle’s controversial 1978 film “Pretty Baby.” Shields, now 57, intimately discusses how the early labeling of her a sex symbol affected her personally and shaped her career. Director Lana Wilson's film, which debuted in January at the Sundance Film Festival, revisits plenty of infamous episodes from Shields' life — her friendship with Michael Jackson, her relationship with Andre Agassi, her odd run-in with Tom Cruise — as well as new revelations, including that she was sexually assaulted by someone she knew professionally.

— A new series on the Criterion Channel revisits sex and film from a much different perspective. Beginning in April, the streaming service has gathered together some of the defining erotic thrillers of the ‘80s and ’90s, including Brian De Palma's “Dressed to Kill” (1980), with Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine; Lawrence Kasdan's “Body Heat" (1981), with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner; and the Wachowskis' “Bound” (1996), with Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon. ("Basic Instinct" arrives in June.) The absence of carnality in today's more sexless cinema world has been a subject of ongoing debate. But if you want to step back into a steamier time, the Criterion Channel has you (but not its stars) covered.

Review: Boygenius is cohesive and powerful in ‘The Record’

“The Record” by Boygenius (Interscope)

The internet's favorite indie girls welcome you into the brilliant, colorful world of Boygenius, again.

The supergroup, consisting of best friends Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, formed and released their critically well-received self-titled EP in 2018. Five years later, the powerhouse women of Boygenius masterfully recapture the same magic in their first full-length album, “The Record.”

Cohesion within the group sneaks up on you like a shadow in the night. The album is soft, brutal and a reflection of a cruel, unrelenting world full of fatalistic imagery, but the love they've discovered in each other and in the music they craft together saves and reignites them.

Review: On ‘Miracle-Level,’ Deerhoof leaves its comfort zone

“Miracle-Level” by Deerhoof (Joyful Noise Recordings) On their 19th album, Deerhoof remains as playful and experimental as ever. The title of the first track on “Miracle-Level” serves as a polite command, “Sit Down, Let Me Tell You a Story,” and this oddball, guitar-driven release merits attention throughout.

The band self-produced its first 18 releases before deciding to try something different. In 2022, they brought in producer Mike Bridavsky to take themselves out of their home-recording comfort zone and into the studio. The impact is most notable in the spare instrumentation and the punchy garage band-feel of the guitars.

On first listen, the album is like a visit to an unfamiliar city — it feels anarchic and unstructured until the listener has some time to acclimate to its rules and norms. But the band is a musical microculture unto itself, and within two or three songs, the unique logic of Deerhoof starts to fall into place.

Singer and bass-player Satomi Matsuzaki was born in Japan, and “Miracle-Level” is the first Deerhoof release sung entirely in her native language. Japanese poetry and songwriting leans away from simple rhyming couplets (think “remember” and “September”). On “Everybody, Marvel,” for example, the band offers more impressionistic imagery: “view through a distorted, broken window/ a comfortable filter” The freeform lyrical structure further liberates the band from familiar song formats.

What’s up

Reuben and the Dark brings that Folk Fest feeling to the Park Theatre

Lauryn Hill, Megan Thee Stallion headline 2023 Essence Fest

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hip hop takes center stage at this summer's Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans as the event commemorates the 50th anniversary of the genre with performances by Lauryn Hill, Megan Thee Stallion and Jermaine Dupri.

Rap artist Doug E. Fresh will curate special performances by other soon-to-be announced hip hop pioneers, while Hill will mark the 25th anniversary of her five-time Grammy-winning album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

In addition, the event will laud Dupri, a Grammy award-winning producer and founder of the So So Def record label, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. He will coordinate special performances by some of the Atlanta-based artists that So So Def has produced. Those performers have yet to be named, but Dupri has worked with Da Brat, Bow Wow, Xscape, Jagged Edge and Anthony Hamilton.

Also headlining is three-time Grammy winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion, whose work includes such hits as “Savage,” “Hot Girl Summer,” and “Body.”

Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks to host ACM Awards in May

Dolly Parton will return for a second consecutive year as host of the Academy of Country Music Awards but this year she's bringing a new plus-one to help — Garth Brooks.

The show is set for May 11 and will stream live on Amazon Prime Video from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. A full rebroadcast of the ceremony and performances will stream the next day for free on Amazon Freevee.

It’s the second consecutive year that the show will be hosted by Parton but marks the first time Brooks will take the stage to host an awards show.

“I am thrilled to return to host the ACM Awards, this time with my friend Garth,” said Parton in a statement. “While I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with him throughout the years, I can’t believe we’ve never had the chance to work together.”

Kidjo, Blackwell, Pärt awarded Sweden’s Polar Music Prize

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Five-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo, Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Estonian composer Arvo Pärt have won the 2023 Polar Music Prize, a Swedish music award.

The three “all made such a global impact with their music," Marie Ledin, managing director of the annual prize, said in announcing the winners on Tuesday.

Blackwell, 85, whose independent label started in Jamaica and signed artists such as Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Roxy Music, Tom Waits, Grace Jones and Marianne Faithful, made Island one “of the most successful labels in music history,” Ledin said in a statement.

The award committee said that Kidjo’s “striking voice, stage presence and fluency in multiple cultures and languages has won respect from her peers.” The 62-year-old singer-songwriter has mixed the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America.

Fleming stars as `Nixon in China’ arrives at Paris Opera

PARIS (AP) — After spending decades portraying generals' wives, a countess and a courtesan, Renée Fleming walked gingerly onto the stage of the Bastille Opera in a blond wig, red coat and black gloves to depict Pat Nixon, former first lady of the United States.

John Adams’ “Nixon in China,” a 1987 work among the most acclaimed American operas, received its Paris Opera premiere on Saturday night to eight minutes of applause following a revelatory production by Argentine director Valentina Carrasco that replaced literalism with metaphor. The lasting images were of a dark American eagle pitted against a bright red Chinese dragon and of ping-pong tables symbolizing both diplomacy and the quest for superiority.

“You really have to be in your mid-60s to even remember this other than as it’s something that you learn about in school,” said Fleming, a 64-year-old soprano who bid farewell to the standard repertory six years ago. “I’m sorry, but in the context of what’s going on now, Watergate doesn’t seem quite as horrific as it did at the time.”

Thomas Hampson, a 67-year-old American baritone, starred as President Richard Nixon, complete with hunched shoulders and a sweaty face he repeatedly dabbed with a white handkerchief. Hampson broke out Nixon’s stiff V-for-victory motion with arms outstretched during curtain calls.

Whitney Houston’s family wants to highlight her gospel roots

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston’s brother remembers when his young sister listened to their mother during gospel rehearsals before she mimicked every tune that was sung.

As Houston rose to pop superstardom, her exceptionally talented vocals were rooted in gospel music. And now, her family — led by her sister-in-law Pat and brother Gary Houston — wants the foundation of her musical legacy to continue to live on through her new posthumous gospel album and documentary under the same name, “ I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston. ”

“Gospel was in her heart,” said Gary Houston, who recalled his sister around the age of 5 wearing their mother Cissy Houston’s wig and high heels while using a broom as a microphone. “We woke up to and went to sleep to gospel. She would sing exactly what she heard my mother and her siblings. No secular music. It was all gospel.”

Pat Houston, the executor of Whitney Houston’s estate, said she’s excited for listeners to hear the six-time Grammy-winner’s message of hope and faith and the influential mark gospel music had on her life and career through both projects, which both were released Friday last week. The documentary, hosted by CeCe Winans, aired on UPtv and AspireTV and will be available on DVD.

Alanis Morissette to headline RBC Open concert

TORONTO - Alt-rocker Alanis Morissette is one of the headliners this year's concert series at the annual RBC Canadian Open golf tournament.

The seven-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter will close out the two-night concert seriesJune 10 at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto.

Additional performers will be announced at a later date.

In previous years, artists Maroon 5, Flo Rida and The Glorious Sons performed at the concert.

New music

Taylor Janzen had a version of her debut full-length album recorded and ready to go before the COVID-19 pandemic settled over the globe and sent us all into lockdown, where many of us spent months upon months poking, prodding at and re-examining our lives and our work.

Q&A: Chuck D talks rap’s rise through ‘Fight the Power’ doc

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hip-hop became a cultural phenomenon against the backdrop of American history, and now Public Enemy’s Chuck D has committed himself to explore the artform's origins.

Chuck D rounded up several rap greats — including Ice-T, Run DMC and MC Lyte — who offered their firsthand accounts ahead of this year's 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Their reflections are explored in the four-part docuseries “Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,” that aired on PBS and is available to stream on its platforms and YouTube with a premium subscription.

The series delves into the history of hip-hop including the genre’s radical rise from the New York City streets, creating a platform for political expression and being a leading voice for social justice

“Fight the Power” touches on how the hip-hop has played an impactful role in speaking up against injustice in the aftermath of America’s racial and political reckoning in 2020 after George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police. The series, executive produced by Chuck D, features archival footage and insightful interviews from of rap’s most integral figures including Fat Joe, Lupe Fiasco, Grandmaster Caz, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Melle Mel, will.i.am, John Forte, Roxanne Shanté and Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets.

Review: Salvant’s jazz album is a captivating musical mix

“Mélusine,” Cécile McLorin Salvant (Nonesuch Records)

Cécile McLorin Salvant’s musical vocabulary is a marvel, and not only because she sings in four languages on “Mélusine.” The ambitious concept album mixes original tunes and inventive interpretations of material dating back as far as the 12th century into a potpourri that draws from jazz, Broadway, the Caribbean and more. It’s true roots music.

The album was inspired by a European fable involving a hunting accident, pivotal bathing scenes and a marriage that goes sour (spoiler alert: The wife turns into a dragon). It’s confusing but fascinating, like a dream about a dream.

Somehow, despite the unwieldy scope of the 45-minute set, Salvant never hits a false note. Whether the words are in French, English, Occitan or Haitian Creole, she sings them beautifully, navigating tricky melodies with the ease of Ella Fitzgerald and a playfulness that enhances Salvant’s astute sense of theatricality. She’s equally convincing singing about the fickle heart, sin and repentance or, say, becoming a dragon.

Musicians fight threat of Tennessee anti-LGBTQ, drag bills

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — When Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation this month targeting drag performances and transgender youth, many musicians living and working in the state felt their community, their audiences and their artistic expressions were also under fire.

The trend of conservative-led legislatures introducing laws limiting LGBTQ rights or using hateful rhetoric about trans people has led the tightly knit musical community in Tennessee to use their voices and songs to raise awareness and money, as well as encourage music fans to get out and vote.

Love Rising, a concert held on Monday in Nashville, featured Grammy-winning artists like Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Hayley Williams and Brittany Howard alongside drag performers and trans and queer singer-songwriters. The following night, the effort continued with a second show, We Will Always Be, featuring a showcase of LGBTQ artists in collaboration with Black Opry.

“No one is in danger from our community, from our beautiful greater rainbow coalition of those of us who identify as LGBTQ+ or a drag performer or trans or just a loving ally or just someone who enjoys music,” said Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Allison Russell, one of the organizers of Love Rising.

What made Beethoven sick? DNA from his hair offers clues

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven's death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him.

They weren't able to crack the case of the German composer's deafness or severe stomach ailments. But they did find a genetic risk for liver disease, plus a liver-damaging hepatitis B infection in the last months of his life.

These factors, along with his chronic drinking, were probably enough to cause the liver failure that is widely believed to have killed him, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology.

This Sunday marks the 196th anniversary of Beethoven's death in Vienna on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. The composer himself wrote that he wanted doctors to study his health problems after he died.

Pioneer of gospel music rediscovered in Pittsburgh archives

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Scattered in crates, dirty and difficult to read, the gospel music of composer Charles Henry Pace sat packed away, unorganized — and unrealized — for more than 20 years.

Frances Pace Barnes, the pioneering music publisher’s daughter who remembers how he could turn a hum into a song, knew the crates held pieces of her family’s past. But she was not expecting those decaying printing plates and papers to reveal an important part of gospel music history.

“I didn’t know it was going to be a legacy,” said Pace Barnes.

As it turns out, her father was one of the first African American gospel music composers in the United States, and the owner of one of the country’s first independent, Black gospel music publishing companies.

Pitbull to kick off first day of Calgary Stampede

TORONTO - Mr. Worldwide is coming to Calgary.

Organizers of the Calgary Stampede say they've booked rapper and pop performer Pitbull to perform at the first day of the annual rodeo and exhibition on July 7.

The Miami hitmaker is known for his country-fused dance-pop collaboration "Timber" with Kesha and various other radio favourites, including "Fireball" and "Give Me Everything," featuring Ne-Yo.

Tickets for Pitbull's concert go on sale Friday and include admission to the Stampede on the same day.

Review: Depeche Mode face down the abyss in ‘Memento Mori’

“Memento Mori" by Depeche Mode (Columbia Records) And then there were only two. Depeche Mode have always been a genre unto itself: a vibe, a sort of feedback loop that is timeless yet nostalgic, dark, edgy, a little too dark sometimes but always so cool. Their 15th studio album titled “Memento Mori” (Latin for "remember you will die") feels both like a tribute to founding member and keyboardist Andy Fletcher who died in May 2022 and left them a duo (Dave Gahan and Martin Gore) and a mission statement of their music.

The 12 tracks are fully Depeche, fully intoxicating in sound, artistically evocative and sometimes puzzling (like the compelling but strange “Caroline’s Monkey”). The music is staring lovingly into the abyss and asking it to love it back; death is always hovering on the periphery of the sound, a grunge, industrial, rainy sound also filled with a strange kindness.

“Soul with Me” is an incredible ballad, while “Before We Drown” is an electro sexy tune, while “My Cosmos Is Mine” has a dramatic tempo to it that works. “Ghost Again” hooks you with its deep fry bass and “People are Good” engages the aural with an unusual vibrato.

Depeche Mode might be facing their own mortality but their power as musicians stretches into infinity.

Def Leppard drummer recovering from attack outside hotel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he is recovering from an attack earlier this month outside a Florida hotel.

Allen, who was in South Florida to perform a show at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, was attacked while taking a smoke break outside the the Four Seasons hotel on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Police arrested a 19-year-old man, but said they don't have a motive for the attack. They did not identify either the suspect, or Allen, in the police report.

But in a social media post, Allen, 59, said he's thankful for all the support he has received from this fans. He said he's also relieved that his wife, Lauren, wasn't with him when the incident occurred, and that they are now “working on recovering in a safe space.”