In music and especially in jazz, says WNYC’s Sara Fishko, one thing leads to another.  For lyricist and singer Jon Hendricks, who turns ninety today, it was some great instrumental jazz solos that led him to make an unforgettable leap into song. Here is the next Fishko Files…

Over the last 10 years, there has been a steady stream of people –non-New Yorkers, mostly –visiting the site downtown known as Ground Zero.  After the opening of the Memorial this Monday, record-breaking crowds are expected to travel there to see the exact spot.  In this edition of Fishko Files, WNYC’s Sara Fishko asks –why? 

Best of Fishko Files: Musicians, like sports figures, have to contend with issues of fitness and injury. WNYC’s Sara Fishko looks at one pianist who has more than adapted to a new way of playing, in this edition of Fishko Files.

Best of Fishko Files: This episode was produced in 2000 for the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer Kurt Weill. Over the years Weill's music, as WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, has lent itself to a variety of interpretations, despite the imprint of one spectacular performer.

Best of Fishko Files: Toiling behind the scenes of Broadway musicals, new and revived, are the orchestrators. WNYC’s Sara Fishko explores orchestration in this edition of Fishko Files.

Last time you bought a classical recording, maybe you wondered where the edits were. In this archival edition of Fishko Files, WNYC’s Sara Fishko looks at the reality and the illusion of the classical CD.

With a silvery statue of Andy Warhol now standing in Union Square until October, and soaring sales of Warhol’s work this past spring, the artist is still a presence. WNYC’s Sara Fishko has news of a new book that charts Andy Warhol’s life in New York, literally every step of the way, in this edition of Fishko Files…

Every day in Bryant Park, next week, you can hear pianist Roy Eaton perform rags by Scott Joplin.  WNYC’s Sara Fishko has more on Joplin, the man who brought ragtime into the light.

Almost 90 years ago, the music world was changed by a remarkable musical instrument that still seems new. In this archival edition of Fishko Files (produced in 2002), WNYC's Sara Fishko tells us about an electronic marvel that has its own sound, and its own bizarre story.

Professor Marshall McLuhan rose to stardom in the 1960s as a pop culture guru. In honor of the McLuhan centenary next week, WNYC’s Sara Fishko takes us back to McLuhan’s futuristic thoughts…in this edition of Fishko Files.

The Oxford Companion to Jazz was published in paperback in 2005. Then, as now, leafing through the book was –like the music itself—a positively non-linear experience. Here’s Sara Fishko with the next edition of Fishko Files. 

Marilyn Monroe would have been 85 in June. Her popularity has never been greater, says WNYC’s Sara Fishko, thanks to a seemingly inescapable urge to evoke her in any way possible.  Here is the next Fishko Files…

Classical music is a field as star-studded as any; but there are still plenty of hidden treasures, buried in anonymity, waiting to be unearthed. In this edition of Fishko Files, Sara Fishko tells a tale of the belated discovery of a major player, Irén Marik.

A Foundry Theater revival of a Depression-era musical opens this week. In its day, the show brought satirical relief to a polarized society. WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells the story.

The first day of summer is just a few days away. So we figure it is a good time for a re-hearing of a favorite Fishko Files piece, “Summertime.” WNYC’s Sara Fishko explores the masterful Gershwin tune, and the many ways its interpreters say “summer.” 

As Tony Award-time comes around and the theater celebrates itself, we can turn to a treasure trove of theater history in the photos of the venerable Broadway photographer Leo Friedman. WNYC’s Sara Fishko takes a quick look at Friedman’s place in Broadway history.

The New York Philharmonic plays "Isle of the Dead" at Lincoln Center next week. The Rachmaninoff piece was inspired by one of the most compelling visual images ever created. WNYC's Sara Fishko has more, in this edition of Fishko Files.