Music

Michela Marino Lerman and Russell Hall perform at home.

Music & Culture

Michela Marino Lerman And Russell Hall: Alone Together Duets

8:00am June 19, 2020

Tap dancer Michela Marino Lerman and bassist Russell Hall rattle our senses with a performance evoking the soundscapes of protests taking place in cities across America.

Big Freedia, shown performing in 2019 in New Orleans, is part of our starter kit for the queer music of New Orleans.

Music & Culture

How Queer Tastemakers, Movers And Shakers Shaped The Music Of New Orleans

6:00am June 19, 2020

by Alison Fensterstock

No single lineage can contain New Orleans music. But one central thread is the legacy of queer performers and tastemakers — from Bobby Marchan to Big Freedia — who steered the sounds and the scenes.

A previously unreleased concert recording of Thelonious Monk from 1968 will be released next month as the album Palo Alto.

Music & Culture

A Previously Unreleased Thelonious Monk Concert Is Coming Next Month

5:03am June 19, 2020

In 1968, a teenager convinced Thelonious Monk to play a concert at his high school to ease racial tensions in his community. More than 50 years later, it's been rediscovered and remastered.

Music & Culture

Synth Used By Prince In 'Purple Rain' Album Up For Sale

5:03am June 19, 2020

A typical synth sells for less than $1000. Prince's, which is up for auction, could fetch as much as $25,000

An empty Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center, lit up in June for Pride 2020 — but with no concert attendees or theatergoers, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Carnegie Hall And Lincoln Center Cancel Performances For Rest Of 2020

6:57pm June 18, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Two of New York City's biggest cultural institutions said Thursday that they will remain closed through the New Year, due to the pandemic.

Music & Culture

Watch Tiny Desk Contest Top Shelf Episode 2 Featuring Brittany Howard

5:40pm June 18, 2020

by Elle Mannion

Live on YouTube, Bob Boilen and Brittany Howard watched their favorites entries to the 2020 Contest and discussed what made these videos stand out from the thousands we saw this year.

Music & Culture

Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor Writes A New Song For A Troubled America

3:46pm June 18, 2020

For the Morning Edition Song Project, we've been asking musicians to write and perform an original song for us. First up, Ketch Secor catalogs the state of the country on "Pray for America."

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Music & Culture

U.S. Girls' Meg Remy Turns 'Less Is More' Upside Down

2:15pm June 18, 2020

Over time, the sound and lineup of U.S. Girls has evolved from just Meg Remy. On the group's latest record, Heavy Light, up to 20 musicians recorded in the studio at the same time.

The University of Georgia's marching band, seen during a football game last November in Athens. The band's acting director, Brett Bawcum, announced that it would no longer play "Tara's Theme" from Gone with the Wind. The film has attracted criticism for i

Georgia Marching Band Drops Song From 'Gone With The Wind' For 'Georgia On My Mind'

1:37pm June 18, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

The Redcoat Band will no longer play "Tara's Theme" from the controversial film. And it already has an apt replacement in mind: the official state song, best known for Ray Charles' rendition.

Jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard.

Opinion: Black Protest Is Music. Learning The Melody Isn't Enough

1:34pm June 18, 2020

by Terence Blanchard

Terence Blanchard, the acclaimed jazz trumpeter and composer, says the fate of the new civil rights movement will depend on the well-meaning outsiders who show up to support it.