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Number 21 on the Billboard top 100 this week: India Arie, with her first CD, Acoustic Soul. She has drawn impressive comparisons to Roberta Flack, Tracy Chapman and Bill Withers. Reviewer Sarah Bardeen says that Arie deserves the success. India Arie's Acoustic Soul is on Motown Records.

Liane Hansen speaks with jazz composer and bandleader Carla Bley. Perhaps best know for her big- and VERY big-bands, she's pared down to a mid-sized group of eight top-notch players for her new cd, 4X4. (WATT records 012 159 547-2).

The Dixie Chicks are one of the top selling country artists of all time. Will Hermes, a senior contributing writer for Spin magazine, says their first CD in three years,Home, has a less commercial sound than their other offerings, but still may be one of the best pop CDs of the year.

Tom Manoff has a review of the CD Reflections of Spain, featuring Spanish music for guitar, played by David Russell. Manoff thinks Russell — who is Scottish, not Spanish — plays with a natural elegance, and is passionate but never over the top.

Host Jacki Lyden talks with singer Aaron Neville about the ups and downs of his 30 year music career. Neville has just released Devotion, his first-ever collection of inspirational songs and a new book, The Brothers, which tells of his colorful past encompassing drug addiction, burglary and chart- topping records.

Religion professor Philip Jenkins talks about his latest book, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South. The book is a follow-up to his 2002 title, The Next Christendom: the Coming of Global Christianity, which was named on of the top religion books of that year by USA Today.

Two top aides have left Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, which has been struggling in the polls and with fundraising. The move could affect how the Republican field is shaping up.

Before Monday's Virginia Tech deaths, the deadliest campus shooting in the United States was at the University of Texas on Aug. 1, 1966. Firing from the top of a tower on campus, Charles Whitman killed 16 people and injured 31. An eyewitness looks back.

There have been 40 consecutive drawings since the last time someone won Powerball's top prize on New Year's Day. The jackpot ranks as the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history.

NPR's Melissa Block talks with Mark Bittman, author of "How to Cook Everything" and The New York Times food column "The Minimalist," about alternatives to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner. His suggestions range from leg of lamb to salmon.