Music

Music & Culture

Reunited After 50 Years, An Algerian Buena Vista Social Club Makes Its U.S. Debut

4:31am August 08, 2013

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

A group of Jewish and Muslim musicians who played together in the bars and cafes of Algiers in the 1940s and '50s thought they'd never see each other again. But after a chance encounter one of them had with a tourist in an Algerian bazaar, their lives changed forever.

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Buddy Guy's new two-disc set is titled Rhythm & Blues.

Music & Culture

Buddy Guy: 'Rhythm And Blues' Titan Channels Guitar Wisdom

7:25pm August 06, 2013

by Tom Moon

The 77-year-old guitarist and vocalist's new two-disc set features cameos from Kid Rock, Keith Urban and members of Aerosmith. But the lyrics merely set the scene, and the jolts come after the verses — when the profound legend begins to play.

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Donald Byrd onstage, in an image circulated by his record label at the time, Blue Note Records.

Music & Culture

Remembering Donald Byrd, Jazz Trumpeter Who Spanned Generations

11:23am August 06, 2013

by Frannie Kelley

After he helped to develop the bluesy, driving hard bop style in the '50s and '60s, his funkier commercial hit recordings shaped black pop music through the advent of hip-hop. A committed music educator, the Detroit native was 80 when he died last week.

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Arts

Musician April Waller Speaks on Songwriting

2:31pm August 05, 2013

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Music & Culture

Vince Gill And Paul Franklin Ain't 'Foolin' Around' With Bakersfield Sound

2:21pm August 05, 2013

by Ken Tucker

The country-music star and steel guitarist's new album features Merle Haggard and Buck Owens covers.

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Amanda Shires' new album is called Down Fell the Doves.

Music & Culture

Violinist Amanda Shires Picks Up The Pieces

6:38pm August 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

Shires has had a rough year: First she was sidelined by a broken finger, then her 150-year-old violin was broken while she looked on. She discusses her recovery and her new album, Down Fell The Doves.

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As kids, Jorma Taccone, Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer were all obsessed with hip-hop and TV shows like Yo! MTV Raps.

Music & Culture

Samberg, Taccone And Schaffer: Three's Not A Lonely Island

5:09pm August 04, 2013

As the brains behind the hip-hop parody group responsible for digital shorts like "D--- in a Box," Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer have produced some of the funniest Saturday Night Live material in recent memory. Here, they talk about comedy, Yo! MTV Raps and adolescence.

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Fred Onovwerosuoke founded the St. Louis African Chorus 20 years ago.

Music & Culture

Songs Of Africa: Beautiful Music With A Violent History

10:00am August 04, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

Part of understanding African sacred music means thinking about its colonial context. It's the music of oppressed people combined with the music of their oppressors. For decades, Fred Onovwerosuoke has collected and arranged this music for choral groups.

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British rockers Led Zeppelin pose in front of their private plane, dubbed "The Starship," in 1973.

On The Road To Rock Excess: Why The '60s Really Ended In 1973

9:58am August 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

In the new book What You Want Is in the Limo, author Michael Walker argues that a peak year in the careers of Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and The Who also marked a cultural shift — from the peace, love and understanding of 1960-era music to '70s rock decadence.

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Music & Culture

The High, Heavenly Voice Of David Daniels

9:19am August 03, 2013

by NPR Staff

Daniels is one of the world's most celebrated countertenors: male vocalists who sing in a range usually associated with women. Hear a sneak preview from the new opera Oscar, starring the famous countertenor as Oscar Wilde.

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