NEW YORK (AP) -- Men and women will compete head-to-head, some of the more exotic awards like best Native American album and best spoken-word children's record have been eliminated, and the number of categories has been reduced by more than 30 in the biggest overhaul in the 53-year history of the Grammys.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- A crowded nightclub is the setting. Ragtime music echoes through the smoke-filled room.
Actor Jon Seda walks toward the end of the bar, takes a seat and begins a shady conversation with a city insider about what's happening in post-hurricane Katrina New Orleans.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Urban radio and TV personality DJ Megatron, who built a career at hip-hop and R&B radio stations from Philadelphia to Boston and told viewers of a popular music TV show "What's Good," was shot to death early Sunday, his manager and police said.

Soul and disco legend Loleatta Holloway has died. The "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation" singer died on March 21, 2011 after slipping into a coma. She was 64.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien has staked her career on reporting breaking news from domestic disasters like Hurricane Katrina as well as on location at international hotspots ... She was gracious enough to grant me an exclusive interview from the midst of the disaster, checking in by cell to share her eyewitness perspective of the state of affairs in the crippled region.

Check out our playlist to see: the best of Nate Dogg; Michigan v Duke when the Fab Five were up against Grant Hill; Lauren Hill; interviews with Wiz Khalifa and NeYo; Chicago Hip Hop; Asians in the Library and much more…

Critically acclaimed poets Lawson Inada and Emmett Wheatfall will be performing some of their works to music in April for "A Celebration of Poetry in Jazz."

In between a tour in the United Kingdom and shows this week at the Austin, Texas-based music festival  SXSW, Portland hip hop legend Cool Nutz sat down with The Skanner News to talk about his music, an upcoming album and the difficulty of marketing in Europe.

Trombonist, producer and composer Delfeayo Marsalis has released his first album in years, a re-imagining of the classic Duke Ellington suite, "Such Sweet Thunder." Here, Delfeayo talks with The Skanner News about pairing literature with music, stepping back into the limelight and why he wants to give his brothers some real competition.

Before undertaking this daunting project, Carla Peterson was aware of precious little about her roots. In fact, although she's African-American, the only 19th Century ancestor she really knew anything about was a Caucasian great-grandfather from Haiti named Philip Augustus White (1823-1891).