The Philadelphia bassist, soon to be 90, played with Blakey, Morgan and Roach. But in all that, he also developed his own rhythmic and harmonic concept. Appropriately, it's called Forerunner.
If you only had 24 hours left to live, how would you spend it? If you answered "skydiving, shotgunning beers at national landmarks and bathing in milk," then you are the band Tiny Moving Parts.
The queer, glammy, wildly dressed duo has a keen sense of mischief and a gift for honest, punk-infused, tongue-in-cheek pop gems. Watch PWR BTTM perform four songs in the NPR Music offices.
The Norwegian singer-songwriter isn't afraid to face her demons. Watch Brun play three new songs, each of which speaks to newfound freedom and fresh opportunities.
Born in Lebanon and raised in France, trained in both Western classical and traditional Arabic music, the trumpeter has always bridged worlds. He puts a jazz spin on the Arab world's most famous star.
In a short documentary, Beach Slang frontman James Alex shares his hopes for fatherhood and what punk has done for him: "With Beach Slang, I'm feeding back into this thing that was so good to me."