Music & Culture

Amelia Randall Meath and Nicholas Sanborn of Sylvan Esso perform at the NPR Music showcase during 2017's SXSW.

Music & Culture

30 Must-Read (Or Must-Revisit) NPR Music Articles From 2017

11:18am December 29, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

The mystery of a "missing" classic rocker, a record collector who desires just one album, Austrians who bungled their way to celebrity, a fake genre we invented ... the gang's all here.

Wayne Shorter performs at the 2017 Detroit Jazz Festival.

Music & Culture

Wayne Shorter: Artist In Residence At The Detroit Jazz Festival

5:10pm December 28, 2017

by Nate Chinen

This episode focuses on a highlight of the saxophonist's banner year: the time he spent as artist in residence at the Detroit Jazz Festival.

Left to right: Jon Weisberger, Chris Jones and Ned Luberecki perform at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Music & Culture

A Bigger Tent: A Frank Conversation About Diversity And The Future Of Bluegrass

4:57pm December 28, 2017

by Jewly Hight

In the eyes of bluegrass musician and advocate Jon Weisberger, the fight for his music's survival is not one between preservation and progress, but to ensure that both have a home in the genre.

Tropicalia Music Still Speaks To Young Marginalized Urban Brazilians

4:39pm December 28, 2017

by Philip Reeves

In Brazil, there's been a resurgence of Tropicalia — the anti-authoritarian, anarchic music that emerged under the military junta of the 1960s. It's back and fused with rap and lyrics fighting for Brazil's poor and marginalized.

Music & Culture

Across the Blue Ridge #106 - Wayne Henderson & Presley Barker, Guitar Wizards

4:00pm December 28, 2017

by Paul Brown

We kick off the new year with a great selection of old time and bluegrass songs and tunes.

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Music & Culture

21 Hip-Hop Albums That Reflected The Politics Of Race, Space And Place In 2017

3:07pm December 28, 2017

Many of the year's best challenged America's record on race, critiqued widespread cultural erasure, or broke conventions of genre, gender and identity within the space of rap itself.

Music & Culture

Marta Sánchez Creates A Truly International Sound With 'Danza Imposible'

3:00pm December 28, 2017

by Kevin Whitehead

You might think that Sánchez's Spanish-French-Cuban-Canadian-Israeli quintet would go haywire with so many rhythmic accents in play, but critic Kevin Whitehead says the composer pulls it all together.

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