Search results for

The city of Chicago has one more thing to boast about: Its hometown orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, has been named America's top orchestra in a new critics' poll published in the venerable British magazine Gramophone.

Also: "Silver Fire" spreads in Southern California; Powerball jackpot winners include 16 county workers in New Jersey; and actress Karen Black dies.

Mountain Rescue Aspen received high marks in a recent assessment. Every five years the search and rescue organization is evaluated by the International…

For lovers of jazz music, the year 2005 brought a wealth of reissues by critical artists from Jelly Roll Morton to John Coltrane. The music, the result of exhaustive archival and restoration work, adds new details to one of America's richest musical traditions.

Reports vary as to whether al-Shabab's Zakariye Ismail Ahmed Hersi turned himself in or was captured in a raid. The U.S. had placed a $3 million bounty on the leading Islamist extremist.

In Iran's presidential election, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are set to contest a run-off election Friday. But one of the losing candidates has charged that the vote was rigged, prompting authorities to order a partial recount.

British forces capture an Iraqi general in the southern city of Basra. A spokesperson says the general is the highest-ranking Iraqi prisoner of war thus far. Meanwhile, U.S.-led warplanes strike facilities in Baghdad, including a presidential palace, a military intelligence complex and the barracks of a paramilitary training center. Hear NPR News.

Also: New bride, four other women die in California limo fire; jury resumes deliberations in murder trial of Philadelphia abortion doctor; cooler weather helps in fight against California wildfires; and the Senate is expected to OK internet sales tax legislation.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker offers his picks for the best music of the year, including Fiona Apple's latest album and a Bob Dylan DVD. He also addresses the topic of women in music, and he talks about the year in hip-hop. Tucker is the film critic for New York magazine.

Fresh Air's music critic Ken Tucker's picks for the best music of 2009 include songs by Taylor Swift, Billy Currington and Michael Franti as well as albums by Loudon Wainwright III, the Fiery Furnaces, and Bob Dylan.