Music

Wadada poses with his granddaughter, Jaya, and a distant cousin he met for the first time on the street in Leland, Miss.

Music & Culture

Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360˚ VR)

2:46pm August 28, 2017

by Josie Holtzman

Watch Wadada Leo Smith play a tribute to Emmett Till while floating down the same river where, over 60 years earlier, Till's lifeless 14-year-old body was found.

People evacuating homes amidst the flooding in Houston, Texas on Aug. 27.

Celebrities And Companies Pitch In To Harvey Relief Effort

2:44pm August 28, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

A country artist donates $100,000, comedian Kevin Hart puts in $25,000 and challenges his famous friends to do the same and Amazon promises to match customers' donations.

Music & Culture

Latin Roots: Balún

11:46am August 28, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

Hear a live performance from the band, whose sound combines shoegaze-pop with pan-Caribbean identity, recorded at Nuevofest 2017 in Philadelphia, Pa.

Grizzly Bear's first album in five years is Painted Ruins.

Music & Culture

Grizzly Bear Details The Confessionals Of 'Painted Ruins' Track By Track

11:25am August 28, 2017

by Robin Hilton

Ed Droste, Daniel Rossen and Chris Taylor reveal the emotional chaos, missteps and hopeful perseverance behind Painted Ruins, the band's first new album in five years.

Red showcases Taylor Swift's transition from adolescence into womanhood.

Music & Culture

Shocking Omissions: Taylor Swift's 'Red,' A Canonical Coming-Of-Age Album

10:00am August 28, 2017

by J. English

The album traverses Swift's country roots and enters proper pop territory while tackling more complicated aspects of love and relationships. Here, an artist grows up alongside her audience.

Jason Isbell performs a Tiny Desk Concert on June 30, 2017. (Claire Harbage/NPR)

Music & Culture

Jason Isbell: Tiny Desk Concert

9:56am August 28, 2017

by Stephen Thompson

The Alabama singer-songwriter and his band perform three songs from The Nashville Sound, but their set includes a few surprises, too.

From the video for "Look What You Made Me Do."

Music & Culture

Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do' Video Is A Lot

11:14pm August 27, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

A swirl of shiny self-parody and attack — about what was expected, judging by the first single — defines Swift's first video from Reputation.

Celebrated musician and composer Kinan Azmeh plays for students at the Refugee Youth Summer Academy.

Music & Culture

Kinan Azmeh Brings The Magic Of Music To Summer Camp For Refugee Children

3:15pm August 27, 2017

by Deb Amos

The acclaimed Syrian clarinetist has performed all over the world, but recently played before a different type of international audience: refugee children at a summer camp in New Jersey.

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Music & Culture

Brand New, Again: 'Science Fiction' Is A Self-Revival

3:12pm August 26, 2017

by Maria Sherman

Emo has its survivors, but few can command attention the way Brand New has in eight years without an album. The band's surprise return with Science Fiction comes, characteristically, on its own terms.

Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real's new, self-titled album was released August 25.

Music & Culture

Lukas Nelson On Surfing And Stingrays, A Childhood On Tour And His Georgia Love Story

8:10am August 26, 2017

The Texas-born, Hawaii-raised musician has toured with Neil Young and his father, outlaw poet Willie Nelson. The new, self-titled album from his band, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, is out now.