Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Joni Mitchell At 75: Trouble Is Still Her Muse

4:20pm November 09, 2018

by Ann Powers

At a concert in Los Angeles this week in honor of her 75th birthday, Joni Mitchell listened carefully as a handpicked group of peers and protégés entered into a dialogue with her inexhaustible voice.

Music & Culture

Across the Blue Ridge #151 - Hazel & Alice, Classic Old-Time & Bluegrass

4:00pm November 09, 2018

by Paul Brown

Alice Gerrard, International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame inductee, recently discovered tapes from the 1960s of her and Hazel Dickens honing their duo sound in practice.

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Charles Mingus poses next to a poster for his six nights of performances at the Strata Concert Gallery in Detroit in 1973. A recording of one of those nights has just been released.

Music & Culture

'Mingus: Jazz In Detroit' Catches A Giant At A Moment Full Of Possibility

2:33pm November 09, 2018

by Mark Stryker

A newly released recording of a 1973 concert opens a window into the volatile bassist's career at a moment of transition, but also a compelling and largely unknown chapter in Detroit jazz history.

Music & Culture

Queen Guitarist Brian May On Writing Anthems And Studying Astrophysics

2:23pm November 09, 2018

by Terry Gross

Brian May spoke to Fresh Air in 2010 about writing "We Will Rock You," recording the many vocals in "Bohemian Rhapsody" and getting a Ph.D. The biopic Bohemian Rhapsody details Queen's meteoric rise.

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Sam Morrow and his band perform at this year's AmericanaFest Day Stage, presented by WMOT, NPR Music and World Cafe.

Music & Culture

Hear One Of The Most Anticipated AmericanaFest Performances: Sam Morrow

2:08pm November 09, 2018

by Bruce Warren

If you're a fan of Little Feat, Tony Joe White and classic Lynyrd Skynyrd, this Los Angeles based singer-songwriter has it all for you.

Gretchen Peters performs on Mountain Stage.

Music & Culture

Gretchen Peters On Mountain Stage

12:16pm November 09, 2018

by Adam Harris

The Nashville songwriter's fifth Mountain Stage performance was compellingly honest.

Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers' album Bought to Rot is on our list of the best new albums out Nov. 9.

Music & Culture

New Music Friday For Nov. 9: The 8 Albums You Need To Hear Now

11:54am November 09, 2018

by Robin Hilton

This week's best new albums includes Lil Peep's posthumous follow-up to Come Over When You're Sober, 50th-anniversary editions of Electric Ladyland and The Beatles "White Album," Hanson and more.

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Music & Culture

How The Beatles And Jimi Hendrix Set Themselves Free — And Made Music History

11:39am November 09, 2018

by Lauren Onkey

Deluxe reissues of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and The Beatles' self-titled "White Album" celebrate their 50th anniversaries, and reveal the remarkable creative abandon behind them.

Jeff Goldblum's new album with his jazz group, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, is called The Capitol Studios Sessions.

Jeff Goldblum The Jazz Artist? Life, Uh, Finds A Way

9:18am November 09, 2018

At his weekly gigs in L.A. — and now on a new live album — you'll find the actor playing keys one moment, holding court with attendees the next and just generally being ... well, Jeff Goldblum.

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Half Waif performs a Tiny Desk Concert on Oct. 17, 2018 (Cameron Pollack/NPR).

Music & Culture

Half Waif: Tiny Desk Concert

7:33am November 09, 2018

by Bob Boilen

The band's songs, stripped here to their essence, are particularly peaceful and calm — and sometimes chilling.