Music

Angel Bat Dawid is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist rooted in Chicago's jazz scene.

Music & Culture

Play It Forward: Angel Bat Dawid Knows How To Deliver Emotion Through Song

7:59pm April 05, 2021

NPR speaks with Angel Bat Dawid about capturing emotion in sound, Chicago's influence on her music and the artist she's most grateful for: George Clinton.

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"Queer people love country music," singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile says. "... We just don't think that it's going to open its doors to us. And when it does, it's wildly satisfying."

Singer Brandi Carlile Talks Ambition, Avoidance And Finally Finding Her Place

4:08pm April 05, 2021

by Terry Gross

The six-time Grammy winner got her start as a kid, singing backup for an Elvis impersonator. Her new memoir, Broken Horses, is about her early life and the family she's built.

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Steady Holiday performs a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Tiny Desk Meets SXSW: Steady Holiday

9:42am April 05, 2021

by Bob Boilen

In our first of four Tiny Desk Meets SXSW concerts, Dre Babinski delivers an absolutely charming performance.

Jon Batiste On His New Album, 'We Are'

11:18am April 04, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Jon Batiste. The prolific artist, who has composed music for Disney and whose band plays for Stephen Colbert, is releasing a solo album.

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Rana Sulaiman Halo, 22, founded and leads the Ashti choir with support from the AMAR Foundation, a British charity. She has lived in the camp since 2014.

'We Will Never Break': In Iraq, A Yazidi Women's Choir Keeps Ancient Music Alive

8:56am April 04, 2021

by Alice Fordham

Women from Iraq's Yazidi minority get together to perform centuries-old sacred songs. They've survived captivity by ISIS and loved ones' deaths. "They are trying to heal," says a Yazidi politician.

Music & Culture

Alt Latino: Songs For Spring

8:56am April 04, 2021

by Felix Contreras

NPR's Felix Contreras brings us the latest music from Alt Latino.

Rickie Lee Jones Debuts Memoir Named After One Of Her Best-Known Songs

8:15pm April 03, 2021

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to musician Rickie Lee Jones about her new memoir, Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour.

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Leslie Jordan hopes that, no matter how you were raised, you can listen and enjoy Company's Comin'.

Music & Culture

On 'Company's Comin',' Leslie Jordan And Gospel Greats Sing For Joy

4:11pm April 02, 2021

Emmy award-winning actor and comedian Leslie Jones' popularity has reached new heights during the pandemic, now marked with the release of his new gospel music album, Company's Comin'.

Padma Lakshmi is an Emmy-nominated food expert, television producer, host and The New York Times best-selling author.

Music & Culture

Padma Lakshmi's 5 Favorite Tiny Desk Concerts

6:00am April 02, 2021

by Padma Lakshmi

The Top Chef host and author shared her love for the series on Instagram, so we asked her to go a little deeper.

Blues Alley Jazz in Washington, D.C., is livestreaming its performances, one of many clubs affected by the pandemic. Beloved jazz clubs in New York, Denver and New Orleans have closed.

U.S. Box Office Plummeted 86% in 2020, Says Leading Arts Group

4:49pm April 01, 2021

by Neda Ulaby

The new data show the drop in ticket sales at theaters, arts centers and orchestras in the United States, U.K. and Canada has been "catastrophic" for the performing arts.