Music

Music & Culture

Controversial Mexican Musician Temporarily Retires From Drug Ballads

8:08am September 15, 2014

by Jasmine Garsd

Alfredo Rios, aka El Komander, is the Jay Z of Mexican drug balladeers. He says government pressure, in the form of fines and banned or canceled concerts, is forcing him to think about retirement.

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Music & Culture

Bob Crewe Knew How To Make Artists Sing

11:56am September 14, 2014

by Neda Ulaby

Bob Crewe co-wrote and produced such hits for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons as "Walk Like A Man," "Rag Doll" and "Sherry." He died Thursday at the age of 83.

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Music & Culture

Jazz Pianist Joe Sample Dies At 75

11:36am September 14, 2014

Sample was a founder of the band the Jazz Crusaders and reportedly played with musicians from Miles Davis and B.B. King to Steely Dan and the Supremes. NPR's Arun Rath has this remembrance.

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Music & Culture

Cosimo Matassa Made His Reputation Behind The Studio Glass

6:32pm September 12, 2014

by David C. Barnett

Cosimo Matassa recorded songs by Fats Domino, Little Richard, Professor Longhair and Jerry Lee Lewis and helped get the New Orleans sound out to the world. Matassa died Thursday at the age of 88.

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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Rainbow Body.

Music & Culture

Listen To The Atlanta Symphony While It's Locked Out — Again

3:26pm September 12, 2014

by Tom Huizenga

In music from Giuseppe Verdi to Jennifer Higdon, celebrate the sound of the venturesome Atlanta Symphony Orchestra while it's silenced by a bitter labor dispute.

Music & Culture

An Emerging Voice Of Americana (And Oklahoma)

1:50pm September 11, 2014

by Ann Powers

Parker Millsap, a 21-year-old with a thick rubber-band tenor, has potential to burn and a new video for one of our favorite songs of the year, "Truck Stop Gospel."

A surprise bestseller, the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club, help spawn a new enthusiasm for Cuban music after its 1997 release.

Music & Culture

Nonesuch At 50: A Record Label Without Borders

12:08pm September 11, 2014

by Jeff Lunden

It began as a small classical label selling records at modest prices. A half-century later, it issues albums from big names in a spectrum of contemporary music from all parts of the globe.

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A class for beginning flutists, crammed into an office building boardroom, labor over "Hot Cross Buns." It's part of Harmony Project, a nonprofit program offering music lessons in a wide range of instruments — flute, trombone, trumpet, oboe, violin, cel

This Is Your Brain. This Is Your Brain On Music

11:55am September 11, 2014

by Cory Turner

A new study suggests that learning to play a musical instrument helps improve the brain's ability to process language. That means music lessons could give kids from low-income communities a big boost.

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The Beatles with George Martin in January 1967 at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Music & Culture

All Together Now: The Beatles Are (Back) In Mono

5:48pm September 09, 2014

by Jem Aswad

The latest reissue project in the never-ending celebration of the most famous catalog in rock 'n' roll goes back to the beginning. Does listening to The Beatles in mono make sense in 2014?

Bob Gaudio says that he and Frankie Valli split royalties and performance fees.

Music & Culture

How The Four Seasons Clashed, Dealt With The Mob And Made Lasting Hits

3:58pm September 09, 2014

Bob Gaudio wrote most of The Four Seasons' hits, some of which are compiled in a new anthology. He tells Fresh Air about the band's history, including why its songs had some "anger" in them.

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