Music & Culture

Miami-born CÃ©cile McLorin Salvant learned about improvisation and sang with her first band after moving to France in 2007.

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Making Old Songs New Again

3:46pm June 18, 2013

by Kevin Whitehead

The 23-year-old jazz phenom's debut album showcases her takes on vintage jazz and blues numbers by Bessie Smith, Fats Waller and others. You can trace some of her effects back to jazz greats like Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln.

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Libyan presenters work at the studio of Radio Zone in Tripoli, Libya, in 2012. The radio station's owners hope to teach a new generation about democracy.

Libyan Radio Station Promotes Democracy, One Rap At A Time

1:52pm June 18, 2013

by Leila Fadel

The Arab Spring countries are still in the process of remaking themselves. Consider Libya, where militia fighters continue to roam the streets, yet a new private radio station does not hesitate to criticize the armed groups.

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A Colombian farmer sips cofee during a national coffee producers' strike Feb. 25 in Colombia. Thousands of coffee farmers rallied and marched throughout Colombia in protest the economic difficulties of the sector.

Music & Culture

Making It Rain Cafe Con Leche: Latin Songs About Coffee, Sex And Politics

11:00am June 17, 2013

by Jasmine Garsd

Coffee is present throughout Latin song, but it's rarely just about a cup of joe. The drink, its colors and its flavors are often used as ways to discuss sociopolitical realities.

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Matthew Morrison's musical life didn't start on TV; the Glee star is a Tony-nominated stage actor. Where It All Began is his second album of show tunes and standards.

Music & Culture

'Glee' Guy Matthew Morrison On His First Love: Broadway

6:22pm June 16, 2013

by NPR Staff

Long before became known as Will Schuester — the lovable Spanish teacher and show choir director on TV's Glee — Morrison was dancing and singing, garnering Tony nods for his work on the Broadway stage.

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Blake Morgan's songs were played some 28,000 times over a 90-day period on Pandora, earning $1.62 in royalties.

Music & Culture

Pandora Buys A Radio Station, Songwriters' Group Calls It A 'Stunt'

4:40pm June 15, 2013

by Laura Sydell

This week, the Internet radio broadcaster bought a radio station in Rapid City, S.D., in an effort to get the more favorable royalty rates given to terrestrial broadcasters. But the move has songwriters and composers up in arms.

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Janis Siegel On Piano Jazz

9:00am June 14, 2013

Siegel, a singer, is one quarter of the jazz supergroup The Manhattan Transfer. Throughout the 30 years she's spent with that musical institution, she's also released her own recordings featuring hip, seductive arrangements of standards, as well as newer works. Here, she visits Piano Jazz along with pianist and accordion player Gil Goldstein.

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India.Arie reinvents herself on her new album, SongVersation.

Music & Culture

India.Arie Returns, With An Eye Toward A New 'SongVersation'

5:25pm June 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

In 2009, the singer-songwriter says she asked herself the question, "Who am I?" The answer led her to make plans to retire. Four years later, she's re-emerged with a new album called SongVersation, as well as a new sense of who she is as an artist.

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Slaid Cleaves' music is influenced by singer-songwriters such as Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.

Slaid Cleaves: 'Still Fighting' With Smart Lyrics And Stories

3:34pm June 13, 2013

by Ken Tucker

The singer-songwriter has said, as he was writing his new album Still Fighting the War, that "a theme of perseverance through hard times revealed itself." Rock critic Ken Tucker says the record is no downer, and that Cleaves finds complex sentiments and wittily phrased ideas in many of his new songs.

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The Emerson String Quartet's new album, Journeys.

Music & Culture

David Finckel On The Emerson Quartet's Changing Of The Guard

12:09pm June 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

The quartet's new album of Tchaikovsky and Schoenberg is the last to feature the cellist and longtime member of the group.

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Fame Studios And The Road To Nashville Songwriting Glory

9:57am June 13, 2013

by Ed Ward

One of America's great songwriters, Dan Penn has written dozens of soul classics, often with keyboardist Spooner Oldham. For a while, the two were on the staff of Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. Ace Records has just released an entire CD of Penn's demos.

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