Music

Music & Culture

Squirrel Flower, 'Flames And Flat Tires'

3:06pm July 01, 2021

by Elle Mannion

"You'd better watch out for me," Squirrel Flower, aka songwriter Ella Williams, warns on "Flames and Flat Tires," a grungy, standout single off the Chicago-based artist's sophomore album, Planet (i).

Saxophonist Camille Thurman and bassist Endea Owens play at a Community Cookout in Jamaica, Queens on Sunday May 9, 2021

Music & Culture

Bassist Endea Owens Cooks Up Jazz For The Community

1:50pm July 01, 2021

We hear the young bassist Endea Owens with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Batiste and trace her Detroit roots to learn how she's giving back to her community with free meals and free concerts on the street.

Music & Culture

3 New Songs Show How Veteran Musicians Keep Things Fresh Over The Long Haul

1:39pm July 01, 2021

by Ken Tucker

It's a quandary many musicians face: Create material that explores new territory or give variations of the same? Tom Jones, Jackson Browne and John Mayer each answer that question in new releases.

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Kurt Cobain of Nirvana by Michael Ochs Archives, Prince by Michael Ochs Archives, Amy Winehouse by Roger Kisby

Music & Culture

No Sophomore Slump: A Playlist Of Songs From Great Second Albums

1:05pm July 01, 2021

The dreaded "sophomore slump" is no more — featuring Nirvana, Prince and Björk, World Cafe shares a playlist of those who have not only avoided the dreaded label, but transcended it.

Sleater-Kinney perform a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Sleater-Kinney: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

12:00pm July 01, 2021

by Jacob Ganz

Watch Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker perform four songs with a full band.

The Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969 in the documentary Summer of Soul.

'Summer Of Soul' Celebrates A 1969 Black Cultural Festival Eclipsed By Woodstock

5:01am July 01, 2021

by Eric Deggans

The Harlem Cultural Festival was filled with stars from soul, R&B, blues and jazz and drew more than 300,000 people. Questlove directs this breathtaking chronicle of Black culture in a pivotal moment.

Musicians who made some of NPR Music's favorite songs of 2021 (so far) include (left to right) Silk Sonic, Cico P, Seinabo Sey, Petal Supply and Amber Mark.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's 27 Favorite Songs Of 2021 (So Far)

2:53pm June 30, 2021

by NPR Staff

Our favorite songs from this strange period of re-emergence, the first six months of 2021.

Musicians who made some of NPR Music's favorite albums of 2021 (so far) include (clockwise from upper left) Vijay Iyer, Jazmine Sullivan, Japanese Breakfast, C. Tangana and Arooj Aftab.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's 26 Favorite Albums Of 2021 (So Far)

2:51pm June 30, 2021

by NPR Staff

Here at the midpoint of 2021, these are the two dozen or so albums NPR Music's staff will be carrying as they step back out into the world.

Music & Culture

Sarah Vaughan's Magnificent Voice Reigns In 'Live At The Berlin Philharmonie'

2:18pm June 30, 2021

by Kevin Whitehead

Vaughan combined an operatic sense of drama and vocal control with an improviser's risk-taking. A newly released 1969 concert recording is an ambitious showcase of her pop and classical sensibilities.

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Music & Culture

Brandee Younger, 'Reclamation'

9:45am June 30, 2021

by Nate Chinen

The first single from Somewhere Different, her gleaming Impulse debut, is a driving jazz-funk sunburst that calls back to a heyday of popular Black musical uplift.