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Fresh Air's jazz critic has a listen to a re-issue of The Hawk Flies High, the 1957 album from tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins — who's often credited with legitimizing that instrument in the jazz world.

Chris Gaffney, vocalist and accordion player for the Hacienda Brothers, died last week from liver cancer at the age of 57.

Actor Dominic Chianese. He plays Uncle Junior on the hit HBO series The Sopranos. He's had roles in TV shows such as Kojak, Law and Order, and films including Dog Day Afternoon, and The Godfather Part II. At the age of 70, he launched a singing career. His recent album is called Hits. He brings his guitar to the studio. This interview first aired August 22, 2001.

The complete 45-episode series of the TV show Pee-Wee's Playhouse is now out on DVD. Reubens originally created the Pee-Wee character at the Los Angeles improv group called The Groundlings. Pee-Wee's Playhouse went on the air in 1986. It ran on CBS for 5 years, garnering 22 Emmys.

Rock will host the 2005 Academy Awards, airing Sunday. The comedian spent time on the cast of Saturday Night Live and In Living Color, and his comedy TV specials include last year's Chris Rock: Never Scared and Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker. This interview was originally broadcast on Feb. 6, 1997.

The popular NBC White House drama The West Wing wraps up seven years on the air on Sunday night with a final episode. Our TV critic has a retrospective of the series, and we feature previous interviews with some of the actors.

He began his career with Chicago's Second City improv group. He went on to win a Tony on Broadway, in Carl Reiner's play Enter Laughing, and to star in Glengarry Glen Ross, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Wait Until Dark, Catch-22 and The In-Laws. This interview first aired September 29, 1995.

Film critic David Edelstein will talk about his picks for the best films of 2002. The list includes Gangs of New York, Far From Heaven, Lovely and Amazing, The Pianist and Igby Goes Down. David Edelstein is a Fresh Air contributor as well as the film critic for the online magazine Slate.

His repertoire is American popular song. Early in his career he was an assistant to Ira Gershwin. He's also a collector of vintage recordings and musical memorabilia -- especially that of the 1920s [through] the 1940s. Recently Rhino Records released an anthology of Feinstein's recordings. This interview first aired July 29, 2002.

Orizio is the author of the book Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators. He interviewed deposed dictators who have not apologized for their crimes and weren't rehabilitated. They were Uganda's Idi Amin, Haiti's "Baby Doc" Duvalier, Ethiopia's Mengistu and others. The interview is conducted by Fresh Air guest host Dave Davies.