Music

Music & Culture

The Thistle & Shamrock: Now On ThistleRadio

9:00am August 19, 2020

Celtic music is ever-evolving and Fiona Ritchie's music library is ever-growing. With new tracks being added to the award-winning ThistleRadio music channel, it's time to hear what's coming on stream.

The path forward for digital music is unclear — but there's more cause for hope than anything else.

A Tale Of Two Ecosystems: On Bandcamp, Spotify And The Wide-Open Future

6:00am August 19, 2020

by Damon Krukowski

There's Bandcamp, beloved by artists. There's Spotify, very well-liked by listeners. And then there's that big question mark. The artist Damon Krukowski takes a look.

Music & Culture

Bright Eyes Will Join NPR Music's Listening Party For 'Down In The Weeds...'

9:04am August 18, 2020

by Lars Gotrich

Friday at 4 p.m. ET, NPR Music will host an online listening party for Bright Eyes' new album, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, featuring a live conversation with the band.

Buscabulla plays a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Buscabulla: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

5:01am August 18, 2020

by Felix Contreras

This Tiny Desk quarantine concert takes place in a large car, looking out on the Caribbean Sea.

Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, from left, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and Joseph "DJ Run" Simmons of the hip-hop group Run-DMC in 2002. Federal prosecutors announced charges Monday in Mizell's death, a case that has gone unsolved for nearly two decades.

2 Men Charged In Long-Unsolved Killing of Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay

10:42pm August 17, 2020

by Andrew Limbong

Prosecutors announce the charges Monday, nearly two decades after the Run-DMC DJ was shot and killed in a studio in New York City.

Steve Grossman, photographed while performing on July 1, 1991 in Nice, France.

Music & Culture

Steve Grossman, Saxophonist And Post-Coltrane Leading Light, Dead At 69

7:33pm August 17, 2020

by Nate Chinen

One of Grossman's earliest recording credits comes from his time in Miles Davis' band, a high-water mark he maintained through the decades. "He was the best of all of us."

Spoken word poet and musician Kae Tempest thinks that the act of paying extreme attention allows one to be more empathetic to others and to create art that resonates beyond the present moment.

Music & Culture

Play It Forward: Kae Tempest Watches The World Vibrate

5:14pm August 17, 2020

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with British rapper, poet and spoken word artist Kae Tempest about their ability to empathize and find hope amid darkness and an artist they are grateful for: Lianne La Havas.

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Music & Culture

Pianist James Carney's 'Pure Heart' Is A Party Where Everyone's Eager To Mingle

1:46pm August 17, 2020

by Kevin Whitehead

Carney rounds up diverse musicians in a sextet that cuts across generations, stylistic preferences and social circles. Their interpersonal chemistry flows on a new album.

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English guitarist and lutenist Julian Bream.

Julian Bream, The Classical Guitar Giant With The Soul Of A Jazz Player

1:17pm August 17, 2020

by Tom Cole

Guitarist Julian Bream, who died Friday at the age of 87, was as important to the history of classical guitar as Andres Segovia.

Norah Jones plays a Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Music & Culture

Norah Jones: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

5:00am August 17, 2020

by Bob Boilen

The platinum-selling, low-key superstar performs a solo set at her piano for Tiny Desk's quarantine series.