Music Reviews

Music & Culture

Tenor Sax George Coleman Shines On Newly Released Live Record, 'In Baltimore'

1:52pm December 21, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

The album showcases 45 minutes from Coleman's '71 sets at Baltimore's Famous Ballroom, where the atmosphere was typically lively and the jazz legend was elegant and full of fire.

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Dua Lipa performs onstage for the 2020 American Music Awards. Her album, Future Nostalgia, ranks second on Ken Tucker's list of his favorite albums of 2020.

Music & Culture

A Year Like No Other: Ken Tucker Picks 10 Albums That Made An Art Of Escapism

11:53am December 16, 2020

by Ken Tucker

The pandemic, along with unprecedented political and social upheaval, created a year in which listeners sought to be transported. Enter these 10 albums. At the top of the list: X's Alphabetland.

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Music & Culture

'Black Swans': New Collection Features Recordings Of Early Black Classical Musicians

3:51pm December 08, 2020

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Saïs Kamalidiin, a Howard University professor, about a new collection showcasing 25 recordings of early Black classical musicians, called Black Swans.

National

Employment Brings Relief To Food-Insecure Illinois Family

5:08pm November 28, 2020

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Illinois artist and mother of three Ja Nelle Pleasure, who has recently experienced food insecurity, about how she is feeding her family this winter.

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Music & Culture

Sonny Rollins Plays His Heart Out In A Newly Discovered Live Recording

12:01pm November 26, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

Recorded over the course of three days in 1967, during a period when the saxophonist was disillusioned with the record business, Rollins in Holland presents a jazz master in an ideal setting.

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Music & Culture

Pianist Keith Jarrett On The 'Calling' That Drew Him To Jazz

2:30pm November 14, 2020

Jarrett is acclaimed for his intense and physically energetic improvised performances. Kevin Whitehead reviews Jarrett's new album, Budapest, and we listen back to a 2000 interview with him.

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Music & Culture

New Anthology Revisits Brief History Of The Gospel Truth Label

3:49pm November 13, 2020

by Oliver Wang

The Gospel Truth was a subsidiary of the famous soul label Stax Records. A new anthology, The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection, revisits its brief moment in gospel soul history.

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Music & Culture

With 'Pedernal,' Susan Alcorn Expands Pedal Steel Guitar's Range

1:55pm November 10, 2020

Pedal steel guitar is a staple of country music, but Alcorn bends it around odd corners. Her quintet's new album is beyond category — roaming betwixt jazz and improvised music and rock and country.

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Billy Joe Shaver, photographed onstage during Willie Nelson's 4th of July Concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on July 4, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas.

Music & Culture

The Ballad Of Billy Joe Shaver And Jerry Jeff Walker, Country Outlaws

6:00am November 08, 2020

by Charles Aaron

The deaths of Walker and Shaver this month prompted critic Charles Aaron to consider the impact of their work on the wider sound of American music.

Music & Culture

Cornet Player Ron Miles Embraces His Pop Influences On 'Rainbow Sign'

1:27pm November 04, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

Much of the music on Miles' new album has a poppy accessibility — but it isn't quite easy listening. Instead his quintet stretches the material and lets things get a little warped.

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