Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Jazz Pianist Ted Rosenthal Has A Feel For Gershwin

11:45am June 02, 2014

by Kevin Whitehead

Rosenthal has played George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" solo and with symphonic and jazz orchestras. Now he's recorded a version for jazz trio as part of an all-Gershwin album.

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Music & Culture

Mandolin Orchestra Celebrates 90 Years Of Harmony

11:45am June 02, 2014

by Jon Kalish

Americans were once mad for mandolins. Yet today, most have disappeared. We visit one of the remaining mandolin orchestras, which is celebrating its 90th birthday.

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Meshell Ndegeocello's latest album is Comet, Come To Me.

Music & Culture

Meshell Ndegeocello Trades Songs And Stories, Live In L.A.

6:58am June 02, 2014

by NPR Staff

The bassist and songwriter gave a secret show in Los Angeles this weekend, and NPR's Arun Rath was there. Hear their conversation and selections from the concert.

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Drummer Art Blakey, who recorded for Blue Note from 1954 to 1965, in the studio.

Music & Culture

Cause For Celebration: The Iconic Blue Note Records At 75

5:03pm May 29, 2014

by NPR Staff

Musicians and insiders talk to NPR about the jazz label's legacy. "It's just like the Empire State Building or the White House," says one. "It's a monument."

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Music & Culture

The Bronze Buckaroo Rides Off Into The Sunset

2:54pm May 27, 2014

The black singing cowboy Herb Jeffries sang a Duke Ellington hit and appeared in 1930s westerns like Harlem Rides the Range and The Bronze Buckaroo.

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Music & Culture

Donovan To Be Inducted Into Songwriters Hall Of Fame

1:27pm May 23, 2014

The singer-songwriter wrote several '60s folk rock hippie anthems, including "Sunshine Superman." He spoke to Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 2004.

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Jazz singer René Marie's latest release is I Wanna Be Evil: With Love to Eartha Kitt.

Music & Culture

René Marie On Singing, Sex And The Importance Of Being Eartha

1:54pm May 22, 2014

by NPR Staff

Performing Eartha Kitt's music, the jazz singer says, isn't just hero worship: It's a window into how power, seduction and vulnerability intertwine.

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Theo Croker's new album, AfroPhysicist, comes out May 20.

Music & Culture

Heir To A Jazz Legacy, A Trumpeter Finds His Own Way

10:20am May 21, 2014

by NPR Staff

Theo Croker is a descendant of old-school New Orleans jazz royalty, but his fusion of different genres is anything but traditional.

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Music & Culture

In 1970, Miles Davis Played Four Sets For A New Audience

1:36pm May 19, 2014

by Kevin Whitehead

That June, Miles Davis played four nights at the New York rock palace Fillmore East. Those performances are now out in full for the first time.

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Music & Culture

Six Decades Later, A Long-Lost Hank Williams Recording Resurfaces

1:35pm May 19, 2014

A recently re-discovered recording of Hank Williams is getting a release. Guest host Colin Escott and Jett Williams speak about the recording, called The Garden Spot Recordings, 1950.

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