Music & Culture

Spoken word poet and musician Kae Tempest thinks that the act of paying extreme attention allows one to be more empathetic to others and to create art that resonates beyond the present moment.

Music & Culture

Play It Forward: Kae Tempest Watches The World Vibrate

5:14pm August 17, 2020

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with British rapper, poet and spoken word artist Kae Tempest about their ability to empathize and find hope amid darkness and an artist they are grateful for: Lianne La Havas.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Pianist James Carney's 'Pure Heart' Is A Party Where Everyone's Eager To Mingle

1:46pm August 17, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

Carney rounds up diverse musicians in a sextet that cuts across generations, stylistic preferences and social circles. Their interpersonal chemistry flows on a new album.

Queue Listen Now

English guitarist and lutenist Julian Bream.

Julian Bream, The Classical Guitar Giant With The Soul Of A Jazz Player

1:17pm August 17, 2020

by Tom Cole

Guitarist Julian Bream, who died Friday at the age of 87, was as important to the history of classical guitar as Andres Segovia.

Vox Virtual, An International Music Festival, Is About To Launch

7:03am August 17, 2020

by Elizabeth Blair

Vocal ensembles that normally would be touring the summer festival circuit have organized a virtual concert series. Groups hail from 10 different countries including the U.S., Zimbabwe and France.

Queue Listen Now

Norah Jones plays a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Norah Jones: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

5:00am August 17, 2020

by Bob Boilen

The platinum-selling, low-key superstar performs a solo set at her piano for Tiny Desk's quarantine series.

Ted Hearne's latest work, a theatrical production reckoning with gentrification and privilege, was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic and was supposed to premiere on the West Coast in late March. Instead, Place was released as an album.

Music & Culture

Ted Hearne On Exploring Gentrification Through The Music Of 'Place'

5:21pm August 16, 2020

After hearing a speech by filmmaker Spike Lee, composer Ted Hearne teamed up with the poet Saul Williams to remap the history of his neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., through the language of music.

Queue Listen Now

"I've deliberately taken a lot of time to do things on my own terms and in my own time," Jacob Collier says. "I've almost deliberately crafted a space where I can keep on changing things musically and keep on experimenting."

Music & Culture

Jacob Collier On Creating The Negative Space Of 'Djesse Vol. 3'

7:57am August 15, 2020

Twenty-six-year old Grammy-winning multi-instrumental composer and prodigy Jacob Collier talks about his new album, Djesse Vol. 3., which features collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign and T-Pain.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Wutang Clan's RZA On The Racist History Of A Popular Ice Cream Jingle

7:57am August 15, 2020

Scott Simon talks with rapper and producer RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan about his new ice cream jingle to replace "Turkey in the Straw," which has links to minstrel shows.

Queue Listen Now

Journalist Gretchen Carlson addresses the crowd before the planned screening of Surviving R. Kelly in New York on Dec. 4, 2018. The room was evacuated after a gun threat was called in.

R. Kelly's Former Manager Charged With Gun Threat To 'Surviving R. Kelly' Screening

4:41pm August 14, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Federal prosecutors in New York say that Donnell Russell placed a phone call threatening gun violence in order to stop an advance screening of the Lifetime docuseries in December 2018.

Dolly Parton expressed her support for Black Lives Matter in an interview with Billboard.

Music & Culture

'Of Course Black Lives Matter,' Dolly Parton Tells Billboard

11:22am August 14, 2020

by Camila Domonoske

"Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!" the singer, songwriter, philanthropist and businesswoman told the music magazine.