Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Holiday Music To Bring Folks Together

1:40pm December 16, 2013

by Kevin Whitehead

This Thanksgiving there were a lot of articles online about arming yourself with good information before arguing politics at seasonal dinners. With so much contention in the air, maybe music can help bring folks with opposing views together.

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Since recording in the 1970s and '80s, Nigerian William Onyeabor has dropped off the music map.

Nine Months In Nigeria, One Brilliant, Difficult Funk Musician

6:07pm December 15, 2013

by NPR Staff

Nigerian funk musician William Onyeabor has been a mystery for years. Since recording in the 1970s and '80s, he has completely dropped off the music map. When Luaka Bop Records wanted to assemble some of his work, the road to securing a signed contract took on its own twists.

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Jim Hall performs at the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival.

Music & Culture

Fresh Air Remembers Jazz Guitarist Jim Hall

7:57pm December 13, 2013

The guitarist, composer and arranger died in his sleep Tuesday at 83. Hall was known for a subtle, lyrical playing style, a gift for innovation and collaborations with a host of talented musicians in a career that stretched more than seven decades. Hear an interview from 1989.

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Gregory Porter's latest album is entitled Liquid Spirit.

Music & Culture

'Singing Just To Me': Gregory Porter On Musical Inheritance

2:14pm December 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

The jazz artist, who turned to singing when an injury ended his football career, claims three people as his main influences: his minister mother, his absentee father, and Nat King Cole. He discusses his musical life and the new album Liquid Spirit with NPR's Audie Cornish.

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Music & Culture

Yes, Yeezus Dominated 2013 Hip Hop, But Many More Gems Were Made

6:44pm December 12, 2013

This week we're looking back at the year in music through the lens of NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums of 2013. It's the annual list assembled by our in-house experts, including NPR music editor Frannie Kelley and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, producer and founding member of the rap group A Tribe Called Quest. The pair host NPR's Microphone Check.

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Ella Fitzgerald sings with bandleader Chick Webb in Asbury Park, N.J., in 1938.

Music & Culture

Ella Fitzgerald's Early Years Collected In A Chick Webb Box Set

9:44am December 12, 2013

by Kevin Whitehead

"This is it," Webb said of Fitzgerald. "I have a real singer now. That's what the public wants."

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Music & Culture

Indie-Pop Albums That Make The Cut Are More Than Mere Collections

12:30pm December 11, 2013

by Stephen Thompson

This week we're looking back at the year in music with a peek at NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums of 2013. It's the annual list assembled by our in-house experts, including NPR music writer and editor Stephen Thompson. He tells Audie Cornish about his picks in the world of indie pop.

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Jim Hall performs with his trio and fellow guitarist Julian Lage at the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival.

Music & Culture

Remembering Jim Hall, A Different Sort Of Guitar God

10:10am December 11, 2013

by Tom Cole

The guitarist said he didn't "really have all that much technique anyway," but it was clearly enough to influence half a century of jazz musicians. Peers and proteges like Sonny Rollins, Julian Lage and John Scofield reflect on one of the finest ever on his instrument.

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The Beach Boys in 1964. Top row: Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson. Bottom row: Mike Love, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson.

Music & Culture

A Nostalgic — But Bumpy — Journey With The Beach Boys

5:44pm December 10, 2013

by Ed Ward

In 2012, the band became another rock group that was celebrating its 50th anniversary. This year, it released Made in California, an eight-hour, six-disc retrospective of their career that, perhaps inadvertently, shows how this once-great force in American popular music faded from public view.

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Music & Culture

Review: Jonas Kaufmann Sings Wagner And Verdi

4:28pm December 09, 2013

by Lloyd Schwartz

At 44, the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann may be the most popular tenor of his generation in the international opera world, and one of the most versatile. Among his recordings this year are albums dedicated to both Verdi and Wagner, celebrating the bicentennials of their birth.

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