Music

Drummer Tony Allen, performing at the Glastonbury Festival in England in 2010. Allen died Thursday at age 79.

Tony Allen, Afrobeat's Foundational Drummer, Has Died At Age 79

10:25pm April 30, 2020

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Tony Allen was one of the founders of the deep-grooved Afrobeat style — alongside his musical collaborator, Fela Kuti. The drummer died Wednesday evening in Paris of a heart attack.

Music & Culture

Sampling Ain't Dead: Hip-Hop Producers Break Down The Formula

9:56pm April 30, 2020

by Rodney Carmichael

NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael breaks down what he learned making The Formula, a video series in which five of hip-hop's best producers discuss the alchemy of sampling.

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Music & Culture

Guitarist Stephane Wrembel Plays Music Inspired By Jazz Great Django Reinhardt

1:26pm April 30, 2020

by Sam Briger

Before the coronavirus outbreak, Wrembel visited the Fresh Air studio to talk about his musical influences and to play, with his trio, songs from his new album, Django L'Impressionniste.

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Rissi Palmer's latest album, Seeds, is featured in this roundup of music out of Nashville, Tenn.

Music & Culture

A Roundup Of Compelling New Nashville Music To Cure The Quarantine Blues

12:50pm April 30, 2020

by Jewly Hight

While Nashville's standard studio music-making processes remain at a standstill, here's another roundup of compelling new and recent music from Tré Burt, Paul Burch, Marshall Chapman and more.

To bolster the fun and success of her already chart-climbing 2020 single "Savage," Megan Thee Stallion manifested a remix from Beyoncé.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's Top 14 Songs Of April

12:05pm April 30, 2020

Beyoncé jumped on a Megan Thee Stallion remix, Fiona Apple dropped an album full of favorites (and we somehow picked one) and Jason Isbell offered a heartrending treat with the 400 Unit.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's Top 14 Albums Of April

12:04pm April 30, 2020

Albums are still events for us, even and especially as we shelter in place. Lido Pimienta, Fiona Apple and Sam Hunt released music that we held close to the chest.

Alisa Amador entered the 2020 Tiny Desk Contest with the song "Together."

Music & Culture

Tiny Desk Contest 2020: Entries That Help Us Feel Connected

12:00pm April 30, 2020

The 2020 Tiny Desk Contest closed for entries on April 27. As we comb through entries to find our winner, we're sharing songs that help us feel connected in this time of isolation and uncertainty.

Music & Culture

Jeru The Damaja: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

10:03am April 30, 2020

by Abby O'Neill

Jeru The Damaja, the '90s emcee, shares a medley of classics for his Tiny Desk home concert.

Ben Watt has been listening to solo guitar music while in isolation.

Music & Culture

Ben Watt Reflects On Listening To 'Lone Guitar Meditations' In Isolation

10:00am April 30, 2020

by Ben Watt

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. While in isolation, Ben Watt has turned to the power of solo guitar music.

Henry Grimes performs in New York in 2003. Grimes died on April 15 at the age of 84, of complications from coronavirus.

Music & Culture

A Month To Celebrate Jazz, Turned Tragic

7:02am April 30, 2020

by Nate Chinen

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, but in 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that cost the jazz community many elders and working musicians, the phrase "appreciation" took a darker cast.