Music

Billie Holiday performs on stage at the Sugar Hill nightclub in Newark, N.J. Farah Jasmine Griffin's 2001 book posed a challenge to biographers and helped reimagine Holiday's legacy.

Music & Culture

Returning To Lady: A Reflection On Two Decades 'In Search Of Billie Holiday'

10:12am August 23, 2019

by Farah Jasmine Griffin

Farah Jasmine Griffin's 2001 book on Billie Holiday posed a challenge to biographers and our understanding of Holiday. Here, she reflects on her changing connection to Lady Day since its release.

Taylor Swift, performing in June 2019 in Carson, Calif.

Music & Culture

Stream Taylor Swift's New Album, 'Lover'

9:49am August 23, 2019

by Lyndsey McKenna

The promotional campaign was protracted, the messaging confusing, and the music ... well, let's find out, shall we?

Mandolin Orange plays a Tiny Desk Concert on June 21, 2019 (Shuran Huang/NPR).

Music & Culture

Mandolin Orange: Tiny Desk Concert

5:00am August 23, 2019

by Bob Boilen

Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz made everything seem so easy, with just a few acoustic instruments and a single microphone behind the Tiny Desk, performing songs full of joy and thoughtfulness.

NYT#NYTimes#08-18-2019#SundayAdvance#1#MagCoolDress#1#159233

The 1619 Project

4:42pm August 22, 2019

It has been 400 years since over 20 enslaved African people landed in Virginia.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Jay Z at Roc Nation's Manhattan headquarters on August 14, announcing a partnership between the sports league and the rapper's entertainment company.

Opinion: Jay-Z Can't Roc With The NFL Unless Kaepernick Gets A Seat At The Table

4:15pm August 22, 2019

by Rodney Carmichael

There's still room for Roc Nation's controversial NFL partnership to do impressive work — as long as the black billionaire behind it makes room for the struggle already in progress.

Music & Culture

The 1975's 'People' Thrashes With Millennial Anxiety

2:30pm August 22, 2019

by Marissa Lorusso

Notes On A Conditional Form comes out Feb. 21, 2020. On its first single, Matty Healy warns: "It's Monday morning and we've only got a thousand of them left."

Music & Culture

Teitur On Mountain Stage

12:00pm August 22, 2019

by Dave Lavender

Teitur Lassen's fertile imagination has cooked up savory, soul-baring songs cut by Seal, Corrine Bailey Rae and Mandy Patinkin.

Taylor Swift performs on ABC's "Good Morning America" at SummerStage at Central Park on Thursday.

Music & Culture

Look What They Made Her Do: Taylor Swift To Re-Record Her Catalog

12:00pm August 22, 2019

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The pop star said Thursday she plans to record new versions of her self-titled album, Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989.

Ivo Pogorelich's new recording of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff sonatas is the pianist's first album in 21 years.

Music & Culture

A Confrontation With Music: Ivo Pogorelich's First Album In 21 Years

10:16am August 22, 2019

by Tom Huizenga

A trio of critics discuss the mercurial pianist's personal take on Beethoven and Rachmaninoff and what it means to color outside the lines in classical music.

Miles Davis performing at Newport Jazz Festival in 1969.

Music & Culture

Looking Back On 'Bitches Brew': The Year Miles Davis Plugged Jazz In

6:04pm August 21, 2019

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Christian McBride about the impact of Miles Davis' seminal album Bitches Brew — an electrified sound that ushered in decades of jazz fusion 50 years ago.

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