Music

Music & Culture

Hear Sufjan Stevens' New Song, 'Wallowa Lake Monster'

10:55am October 11, 2017

by Robin Hilton

The song is a rare outtake Stevens recorded while making Carrie & Lowell and one of several previously unreleased songs included on an upcoming mixtape called The Greatest Gift.

Shirley Collins' 1964 album, Folk Roots, New Routes, is an uncompromising work that spearheaded innovation in the middle of the folk music revival.

Music & Culture

Shocking Omissions: Shirley Collins And Davy Graham's 'Folk Roots, New Routes'

10:53am October 11, 2017

by Jude Rogers

The album spearheaded innovation in the middle of the folk music revival, set a template for the folk-rock that followed it and inspired 21st century psych-folk decades later.

Music & Culture

Watch Big Thief Perform In KEXP's Studios

9:00am October 11, 2017

by Matthew Howland

Watch the indie-rock band's emotional performance, featuring songs from its sophomore album, Capacity.

Composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator Tyshawn Sorey, who has been granted a MacArthur Fellowship.

Music & Culture

Tyshawn Sorey, A Musical Shapeshifter, Wins MacArthur 'Genius' Prize

7:05am October 11, 2017

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The wide-ranging composer, drummer, pianist and trombonist has been defying easy category since childhood. Now only 37 years old, he's just getting started.

Queue Listen Now

On Wednesday morning, Rhiannon Giddens was awarded a MacArthur "Genius Grant."

Music & Culture

Meet Rhiannon Giddens, Newly Minted MacArthur 'Genius'

6:43am October 11, 2017

by Stephen Thompson

Before she won a $625,000 grant on Wednesday, Giddens was a frequent guest on NPR programs. Relive her performances as both a solo artist and a member of Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Music & Culture

St. Paul & The Broken Bones On Mountain Stage

5:04am October 11, 2017

In the midst of his training to become a preacher, Paul Janeway found another way to stir up a crowd. Hear the six-piece band channel serious soul on this week's Mountain Stage.

Music & Culture

Grizzly Bear On World Cafe

6:08pm October 10, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

The indie-rock veterans performs live in the World Cafe studio and speak with Talia Schlanger about the events leading up to their new album, Painted Ruins.

Grady Tate performs on stage at the Jazz Mobile Festival on Sept. 5, 1982, in Amsterdam.

Music & Culture

Grady Tate, Prodigious Jazz Drummer And Noted Vocalist, Dies At 85

5:29pm October 10, 2017

by Nate Chinen

The drummer was a first call for many of the finest singers of the 1960s and '70s, including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne and Peggy Lee.

Thelonious Monk performs in London in 1970.

Music & Culture

After Midnight: Thelonious Monk At 100

5:15pm October 10, 2017

by Tom Vitale

Misunderstood early in his career, the jazz pianist and composer — born Oct. 10, 1917 — came to have a massive effect on American music.

Music & Culture

On The Centennial Of His Birth, A Look Back At Thelonious Monk's Jazz Legacy

2:11pm October 10, 2017

by Kevin Whitehead

The jazz legend would have turned 100 today. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Monk's music is "universally beloved, by jazz musicians across the stylistic spectrum who might agree about little else."

Queue Listen Now