Music & Culture

Wynton Marsalis onstage in New York in April 2016. His new violin concerto made its East Coast debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center last week.

Music & Culture

The Transatlantic Collaboration Behind Wynton Marsalis' New Violin Concerto

11:48am November 01, 2016

by Nina Totenberg

The jazz trumpeter wrote his Concerto in D for, and with, the Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti. The two say the process was "fascinating" — but painstakingly slow.

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Mega Bog's new album, Happy Together, comes out Feb. 3, 2017.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Mega Bog, 'Fwee'

11:04am November 01, 2016

by Laura Snapes

Erin Birgy echoes the liberationist vibe of the West Coast's hippie heyday with a seven-piece rock band blissing out by a glimmering shoreline.

Margaret Glaspy in a scene from a new video for her song "Emotions And Math."

Music & Culture

First Watch: Margaret Glaspy, 'Emotions And Math'

11:04am November 01, 2016

by Robin Hilton

As the video unfolds, Glaspy builds a collage of wall art with mementos from someone she misses until the whole thing looks like a wild mix of ciphers right out of A Beautiful Mind.

Music & Culture

First Watch: Delicate Steve, 'Cartoon Rock'

9:58am November 01, 2016

by Bob Boilen

Delicate Steve says his new song was born of "imagining what cartoon music might actually sound like if ZZ Top were the genre's founding fathers." Watch the video, starring bandmate Christian Peslak.

A frame from Lera Lynn's "Image" music video.

Music & Culture

Watch Lera Lynn's New Video For 'Image'

9:03am November 01, 2016

by Bruce Warren

The singer calls her latest single "a reflection on American culture, our infatuation with celebrity, infamy, shock value and drama."

Music & Culture

World Cafe Next: The Shacks

2:43pm October 31, 2016

by David Dye

The young New York duo's debut EP sounds like the early work of a force to be reckoned with.

Music & Culture

Leonard Cohen Explores The Fragility Of Life In 'You Want It Darker'

2:18pm October 31, 2016

by Ken Tucker

The 82-year-old songwriter mixes serious contemplation with mordant humor on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says You Want It Darker features some of Cohen's simplest, most effective lyrics.

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Adia Victoria performs live for this World Cafe session.

Music & Culture

Adia Victoria On World Cafe

1:53pm October 31, 2016

by David Dye

A long geographic and musical journey led to the blues-rock singer's stunning debut, Beyond The Bloodhounds. Hear her play songs from that album live in Philadelphia.

Music & Culture

'La Llorona': A Spooky Folk Song With Many Lives

1:19pm October 31, 2016

by Felix Contreras

Just in time for Día de los Muertos, here are 12 versions of an old song that still frightens. Hear "La Llorona" performed by Chavela Vargas, Lila Downs, Mariachi Flor de Toloache and more.

Music & Culture

Metropolis: 10/29/16

11:46am October 31, 2016

Hear tracks from M83, Tycho, Little Dragon and more in a two-hour mix from KCRW's Jason Bentley.