Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Leyla McCalla Rereleases 'Vari-Colored Songs'

7:54am October 18, 2020

Leyla McCalla released her first solo album, Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes, in 2014. NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro asks her about its re-release and the new song included on it.

Music & Culture

Pianist Yael Weiss On '32 Bright Clouds' Project

6:03pm October 17, 2020

Pianist Yael Weiss talks about her latest project, 32 Bright Clouds: Beethoven Conversations Around the World.

Music & Culture

The Phillipine-born Singer Who Got 'Coffee' Stuck In Your Head Has A New Album

7:48am October 17, 2020

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Philippine-born singer Bea Kristi, better known as "Beabadoobee" about her new album Fake It Flowers.

Amplify with Lara Downes: with guest Rhiannon Giddens

Music & Culture

'A Chance Of A Great Spiritual Awakening': Rhiannon Giddens Talks With Lara Downes

6:43am October 17, 2020

by Lara Downes

Eavesdrop on the forward-thinking pianist as she talks with musical omnivore Rhiannon Giddens, who has just taken over Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road organization.

Orrin Evans Trio: Orrin Evans: keys; Luques Curtis: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums.

Music & Culture

Social Music In An Age Of Social Distancing

4:47pm October 16, 2020

How is the Philadelphia jazz community responding to the global pandemic? Pianist Orrin Evans and other musicians are taking on the challenge.

Music & Culture

The Thistle & Shamrock: Fall Compilation

1:31pm October 16, 2020

Fiona Ritchie revisits some of the best folk, acoustic and roots releases and debuts from the summer. Featured artists include Anadama, Skerryvore, and The Sultans of String.

Music & Culture

Ozuna: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

12:00pm October 16, 2020

by Stefanie Fernández

Global superstar Ozuna performs five songs in quarantine for Tiny Desk.

Dallas Taylor speaks as part of TED2020: Uncharted. May 21, 2020. Photo courtesy of TED.

Dallas Taylor: What Can We Learn From Listening To Silence?

7:49am October 16, 2020

by NPR/TED STAFF

What can we discover when we allow ourselves to sit in silence and just... listen? Sound designer Dallas Taylor explores how tuning into silence is key for understanding the beauty of the sonic world.

Queue Listen Now

Before recording Cuttin' Grass Vol. 1, Sturgill Simpson (seated at center with guitar) assembled an all-star crew of bluegrass players to help him reimagine songs selected from across his own acclaimed — and genre-defying — albums.

Music & Culture

Sturgill Simpson Raids His Own Catalog For Surprise Bluegrass Album

6:20am October 16, 2020

by Ann Powers

Returning to a form he fell in love with after first moving to Nashville, the genre-defying singer recorded Cuttin' Grass Vol. 1 in just a few days earlier this year, after recovering from COVID-19.

Clint Mansell is the Grammy-nominated composer whose work on Requiem for a Dream jumpstarted a prolific and distinctive score career.

Requiem For A Theme: Film Composer Clint Mansell On The Sound Of Sadness

5:58am October 16, 2020

by Tim Greiving

Darren Aronofsky's 2000 film Requiem for a Dream spawned a musical motif that's rippled through media — and jumpstarted a new career for Clint Mansell, the composer of its haunted score.