Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Alt.Latino Switches Up And Does A Blind Musical Taste Test

7:57am May 14, 2017

Alt.Latino's Felix Contreras challenges NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro to curate this week's music discovery segment. He put together the six tracks and asked Lulu to pick out her favorites.

Salvador Sobral of Portugal smiles as he speaks at a news conference on Saturday after winning the Eurovision Song Contest with his song "Amar Pelos Dois" in Kiev, Ukraine.

Salvador Sobral Of Portugal Wins Eurovision Song Contest

4:36am May 14, 2017

by Doreen McCallister

Sobral won with a romantic ballad. He sang on a small elevated circle in the middle of the crowd. The other 25 competitors performed on a wide stage backed by flashing lights and other effects.

Composer Lou Harrison was open to the vividness of other cultures throughout his life. He helped introduce Indonesian gamelan music to the West.

Music & Culture

Lou Harrison, The 'Maverick' Composer With Asia In His Ears

8:04am May 13, 2017

by Tom Huizenga

Routinely labeled an "American maverick," Harrison lovingly brought Eastern traditions and the rugged American West together in his music, blazing new paths and constructing his own instruments.

Otis Redding performs on the TV show Ready Steady Go in 1966.

Otis Redding's 'Unfinished Life' Still Resonates

8:04am May 13, 2017

Nearly 50 years after his untimely death, Redding's influence as a spirit of soul music remains. Jonathan Gould, author of a new biography of the singer, explains why.

Nathaniel Cross on trombone, Binker Golding on tenor saxophone, Moses Boyd on drums and Theon Cross on tuba perform at SXSW in March 2017.

Music & Culture

Get To Know London's Thriving Jazz Scene (By Way Of Austin, Texas)

6:26pm May 12, 2017

by Nate Chinen

Players like Moses Boyd, Shabaka Hutchings and Sarathy Korwar drive London's jazz scene forward with sounds from around the world. In March, SXSW hosted all three for an up-to-the minute dispatch.

Music & Culture

Across the Blue Ridge #72- Lightnin’ Wells, one-man band

4:00pm May 12, 2017

by Paul Brown

Mike “Lightnin'” Wells brings traditions together in his entertaining, informative and down-home one-man shows. His latest album, titled “O Lightnin' Where Art Thou?”, displays his range as n

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Music & Culture

Otis Gibbs On Mountain Stage

1:17pm May 12, 2017

The East Nashville raconteur and country-music podcaster makes his Mountain Stage debut with a guitar-slinging performance.

T.S. Monk performs at the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition.

Music & Culture

T.S. Monk On Piano Jazz

1:15pm May 12, 2017

The percussionist dedicated this 1995 set with host Marian McPartland to his father, Thelonious Monk.

A still from Cornelius' "If You're Here" video.

Music & Culture

After 11 Years, Cornelius Is Back With A New Album, Surreal 'If You're Here' Video

1:06pm May 12, 2017

by Lars Gotrich

This is truly visual music, and a rare case in which one enhances the other.

Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced? was released 50 years ago Friday.

Music & Culture

Only 1 Chance At A First Impression: Celebrating Great Musical Debuts

11:53am May 12, 2017

Fifty years ago, the Jimi Hendrix Experience made about as tremendous a first impression as it gets with Are You Experienced? — but here are several more debuts that stack up.