Here's a list of 10 albums that deserve more year-end love than they're generally getting, a counter to an age where music has taken on an introspective function.
The best albums of 2017 delivered both comfort and challenge — both salve and spur. (That also applies to the honorable mentions listed, any of which could easily have come off the bench.)
The modern day torchbearers of Mississippi blues make their third appearance on Mountain Stage and play songs from their latest release, Prayer For Peace.
NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Gayla Peevey, who sang the original version of "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" in 1953. That song helped the Oklahoma City Zoo get its first hippo — and this past week, Peevey welcomed the zoo's newest hippo addition.
When Rory Graham was 19 or 20 years old, he sang in public for the first time. And he didn't really think there was anything special about his voice. Turns out the world disagrees.
The songs of the year reflected deep needs — for safety, respect, money, self-definition, revolution — and often delivered their own form of satisfaction.
Watch the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest vocalists Catherine Russell and Kenny Washington perform soulful renditions of holiday classics, live at 7 p.m. EST.