Music

Music & Culture

Music Review: 'Children Of The Light,' Children Of The Light

6:42pm October 14, 2015

Children of the Light is two-thirds of the iconic Wayne Shorter Quartet. On their new self-titled album, Michelle Mercer says the trio's lively group improv is like a family dinner where everyone's talking at once yet somehow everyone's being heard.

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Marlon James Becomes First Jamaican To Win Man Booker Prize

6:42pm October 14, 2015

NPR's Audie Cornish talks to James, whose novel, A Brief History Of Seven Killings, won the Man Booker Prize Tuesday. The novel is an epic reimagining of the assassination attempt on Bob Marley.

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Music & Culture

An Under-The-Radar Musician Slips Into The Spotlight With 'Oh My Goodness'

4:22pm October 14, 2015

by Ken Tucker

Veteran songwriter Donnie Fritts has mixed blues, rock, soul and country throughout his long and winding career. Ken Tucker says Fritts' new solo album showcases the musician's "shrewd ruminations."

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Anna Akhmatova, who lived from 1889 to 1966, was a beacon of artistic courage in the face of repression during Soviet times. Her work is now receiving renewed attention.

An Unexpected Revival For A Beloved Russian Poet

3:10pm October 14, 2015

by Corey Flintoff

Singer Iris Dement's new album is based on the work of the late Anna Akhmatova, whose spare, insightful lines addressed the ambiguities of love and the tumult of Soviet times.

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Grace Jones: 'I'm A Bit Split Personality'

3:04pm October 14, 2015

by NPR Staff

The gender-bending musician and supermodel discusses how her past and her personality inform her new book, I'll Never Write My Memoirs.

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Elvis Costello: 'There Is No Absolute Right And Wrong About Music'

2:22pm October 14, 2015

by NPR Staff

Throughout his memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello grapples with parallels to his father's life. "In the end, music was playing in the room when my father left this earth," he says.

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Judith Hill's <em>Back In Time</em> is out Oct. 23.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Judith Hill, 'Angel In The Dark'

9:03am October 14, 2015

by Kiana Fitzgerald

20 Feet From Stardom no more — the soul singer-songwriter captures the feeling of journeying through the unmerciful rain of boulders to make it to the top of the mountain.

Music & Culture

'Tomeka Reid Quartet' Offers A Tightly Synchronized Mix Of Cello And Guitar

1:34pm October 13, 2015

by Kevin Whitehead

Cellist Tomeka Reid was headed toward a career as a classical musician, but was drawn to jazz. Critic Kevin Whitehead says her band's new album, The Tomeka Reid Quartet, has good chemistry all around.

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Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. Last month, Iron Maiden released its 16th album, The Book of Souls.

Music & Culture

Death And The Iron Maiden

12:21pm October 13, 2015

by Jonathan Dick

A year after his diagnosis with cancer, the lead singer of Iron Maiden talks about recovery, mortality and the band's 16th album, The Book of Souls.

Music & Culture

Album Review: 'III,' By Bixiga 70

4:04pm October 12, 2015

by Banning Eyre

Bixiga 70 is a 10-piece band from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The eclectic set of musicians seamlessly fuses cumbia, afrobeat and funk. NPR's Banning Eyre says their instrumental dance songs have earned them a global reputation.