Helen Merrill on Her New "Collaboration"

Composer and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla writes and performs what he calls "new tango," which is influenced by rock, jazz, and twentieth-century classical music. His intense, emotional music was at first deeply unpopular with tango traditionalists, who favored the older, dance-oriented sound.

In 1978, classically-trained jazz pianist Ken Werner released an LP of early ragtime pieces by Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington and others That album has just been reissued on CD. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says it's an exquisite collection.

The network's new comedy is based on the Diane Keaton movie, and features many of the same actors, writers, and producers. The television version deviates from the original plot, but the message, says TV critic David Bianculli, is just as muddled.