Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Sarah Vaughan's Magnificent Voice Reigns In 'Live At The Berlin Philharmonie'

2:18pm June 30, 2021

by Kevin Whitehead

Vaughan combined an operatic sense of drama and vocal control with an improviser's risk-taking. A newly released 1969 concert recording is an ambitious showcase of her pop and classical sensibilities.

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Music & Culture

Brandee Younger, 'Reclamation'

9:45am June 30, 2021

by Nate Chinen

The first single from Somewhere Different, her gleaming Impulse debut, is a driving jazz-funk sunburst that calls back to a heyday of popular Black musical uplift.

Music & Culture

Remembering When The Fillmore West Closed Down 5 Decades Ago

6:14am June 30, 2021

The Fillmore West in San Francisco hosted The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and other bands in the 1960s. As NPR celebrates its 50th anniversary, we look back on important events of that year.

From the Top alums perform a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

From The Top: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

5:00am June 30, 2021

by Tom Huizenga

If young folks are our future, then classical music looks blazingly bright with these extraordinary performances by teenage musicians from across the country.

Music & Culture

'Willy Wonka' Composer Leslie Bricusse Is Still Busy At Age 90

4:50pm June 29, 2021

by Tim Greiving

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory turns 50 in June, and Hook turns 30 in December. Both were shaped by the English lyricist and composer Leslie Bricusse, who remains vital and busy at age 90.

Caroline Shaw, Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part

Music & Culture

Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion, 'To The Sky'

12:00pm June 29, 2021

by Tom Huizenga

The joint effort between the composer and Sō Percussion showcases Shaw's flexible voice.

Music & Culture

Steve Gunn, 'Other You'

11:48am June 29, 2021

by Lars Gotrich

The title track from Gunn's upcoming album is as pretty as it is potent.

Music & Culture

Spacey Jane, 'Lots of Nothing'

2:13pm June 28, 2021

by Chasity Hale

Listening to "Lots of Nothing" feels like rediscovering the best summer of your youth.

On Lucy Dacus' new album, Home Video, nearly every song focuses on a particular moment in her youth and teen years

Music & Culture

Rewind, Be Kind: On 'Home Video,' Lucy Dacus Writes Her Own Rules For Friendship

10:25am June 28, 2021

by Marissa Lorusso

Dacus's third album is an intimate collection of snapshots from her youth and teen years. Both searching and empathetic, it channels what it means to revisit the past with the wisdom of distance.

Carrtoons, Kiefer, Kaelin Ellis and The Kount play a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Carrtoons, Kaelin Ellis, Kiefer and The Kount: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

9:04am June 28, 2021

by Bobby Carter

To celebrate 50 years of NPR, we asked beatmakers Carrtoons, Kaelin Ellis, Kiefer, and The Kount to recreate some of the iconic themes from our news programs.