Music & Culture

Tracy Chapman's debut album "was the music that I needed at a time when I felt pressure to know everything before it was taught," says writer and scholar Francesca T. Royster.

Music & Culture

Meeting Tracy Chapman In The Spaces Between

10:44am October 15, 2021

by Francesca T. Royster

After Chapman released her 1988 debut, she was everywhere in pop and always on the mind of writer Francesca T. Royster. Hearing that album, she writes, "helped me say what I hadn't yet said out loud."

Nasheet Waits (drums), Rashaan Carter (bass), Mark Turner (tenor sax), Steve Nelson (vibraphone) perform in Central Park during the Walk with the Winds series.

Music & Culture

In Central Park, mid-pandemic, jazz was alive atop sacred ground

10:12am October 15, 2021

by Sarah Geledi

Join us for an impromptu concert series in the heart of Central Park, titled Walk With The Wind and featuring performances by tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, drummer Nasheet Waits and more.

Music & Culture

Adele, 'Easy On Me'

7:14pm October 14, 2021

by LaTesha Harris

The first single from 30, Adele's new album due out Nov. 19, is an achingly honest and hopeful ballad that acknowledges internal demons while calling for tender patience.

Music & Culture

Steve Earle & The Dukes on Mountain Stage

5:05pm October 14, 2021

by Dave Lavender

Celebrated country outlaw Steve Earle brings songs of love, loss, and coal country to Mountain Stage.

The percussion ensemble Recap has released its striking debut album, Count to Five.

Music & Culture

A young, all-women ensemble upends the percussion paradigm

4:55pm October 14, 2021

by Tom Huizenga

The members of Recap, four young women of color from New Jersey, have built a mission of gender equity into their striking debut album.

"My music is where I'm able to release feelings and have fun with it," Wolf tells NPR. "I love for my shows to be a big party. So when I'm performing, if it's my release, I want it to be a release for other people."

Music & Culture

Remi Wolf's rule-breaking pop pushes her closer to superstar status

3:49pm October 14, 2021

by LaTesha Harris

The colorful singer behind viral hit "Photo ID" is releasing her debut album, Juno. Using music to navigate struggles with sobriety, Wolf talks about vulnerability and creating to release feelings.

Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol, Lou Reed and Moe Tucker from archival photography in a split-screen frame from "The Velvet Underground."

Todd Haynes' new film takes us deep into The Velvet Underground

1:44pm October 14, 2021

by Allyson McCabe

In his first documentary, filmmaker Todd Haynes uses the language of experimental cinema to spotlight the Velvet Underground, a legendary band that flowered within New York's avant-garde art world.

World Cafe celebrates 30 years with a 1991 playlist

Music & Culture

World Cafe 30th Anniversary Playlist, 1991: Tom Petty, Uncle Tupelo And More

11:24am October 14, 2021

by Bruce Warren

World Cafe playlists from 1991 were strong on singers and songwriters, including: Uncle Tupelo, Loreena McKennit, Billy Bragg, Bonnie Raitt, Kirsty McColl, Marc Cohn and Tom Petty.

Music & Culture

Remembering Irish Musician Paddy Moloney

7:34am October 14, 2021

Paddy Moloney, the frontman for the Irish band The Chieftains, died Tuesday at the age of 83. For more than 50 years, his band brought the musical traditions of Ireland to a worldwide audience.

World Cafe celebrates it's 30th Anniversary

Music & Culture

World Cafe celebrates 30 years: Hear the entire first show

7:00am October 14, 2021

by Bruce Warren

At 10 a.m. ET on Oct. 14, 1991, the original World Cafe host David Dye and a small production staff launched the very first Cafe.