ABBA's Essential, Influential Melancholy
A defense of the monumental, enduring, deceptively complex Swedish pop quartet, and the underlying emotion that has helped its hooks connect with fans for generations.
Music & Culture
The Curse Of Lil B: Fans Blame Rapper For Houston Rockets' Bad Luck
The Houston Rockets lost their second game in the Western Conference Finals Thursday night. Many fans believe rapper Lil B placed a curse on the team's best player, James Harden.
Drum Fill Friday, With Sō Percussion
This week's Drum Fill Friday guest quizmasters are from the internationally acclaimed ensemble Sō Percussion. Hear the fill and match it to the piece.
'My Fair Lady' Couldn't Actually Dance All Night, So These Songs Had To Go
The musical has some of the best-known songs in Broadway history, but it originally had other tunes that almost no one knows. Some of those songs were recently performed for the first time in decades.
Bruce Lundvall, Jazz Record Executive, Has Died
The longtime president of Blue Note Records, a lifelong jazz fan, signed artists such as Norah Jones, Joe Henderson and Robert Glasper. He died of complications due to Parkinson's Disease. He was 79.
In 'Take Off,' Ramon Valle Makes The Piano Sing
Despite its clarity and cohesion, Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the new album from Cuban pianist Ramon Valle and his trio is half knock-out, half schmaltzy.
Deaf Jam: Experiencing Music Through A Cochlear Implant
After swapping hearing aids for a cochlear implant, Sam Swiller's taste in music shifted dramatically, from grunge rock to folk. Now scientists are trying to improve how implants relay music.
B.B. King On Life, Plantation Living And His 'Droopy-Drawers' Sound
"I developed in my head that I'm never any better than my last concert or the last time I played," B.B. King told Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 1996.
Oak Ridge Boys Take Their Impeccable Harmonies 'On The Road'
The Oak Ridge Boys are still at it, with a new CD of hymns and gospels called Rock of Ages. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Joe Bonsall and Richard Sterban about Bonsall's new book and their latest CD.
After Thaw, Minnesota Orchestra Returns To Cuba
This week, the ensemble became the first professional U.S. orchestra since 1999 to play in Cuba — 86 years after its first visit to Havana.