Jazz pianist Christian Sands on his new album 'Embracing Dawn'
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with jazz pianist Christian Sands about his latest album, "Embracing Dawn." It's informed by a breakup.
Music & Culture
'Wait Wait' for September 28, 2024: Live in Kansas City with Dionne Warwick!
This week, Wait Wait is live in Kansas City with special guest Dionne Warwick, and panelists Josh Gondelman, Shantira Jackson, and Paula Poundstone
Golden-age rappers make a digital-age leap — and survive
On surprising new albums, '80s trailblazers LL Cool J and MC Lyte sound thrillingly revitalized, thanks to sharp production choices and a willingness to bend their signature styles toward the moment.
The final, posthumous album from SOPHIE stands out among the best music out this week
This week's new music includes the current king of bluegrass, electronic stylings from an RNB pioneer and a posthumous release from the iconic producer SOPHIE, who passed away in 2021.
Sean Combs accused of impregnating, threatening woman in new assault lawsuit
In the 12th lawsuit filed against the hip-hop mogul since last November, an unnamed victim alleges that Sean Combs coerced her into sex, impregnated her, then threatened her into silence.
The album SOPHIE left behind has been finished
One of the rising stars of electronic music, SOPHIE died suddenly in 2021 at the age of 34. A new posthumous album highlights what might have been.
Words, sounds and the art of listening with Aja Monet
The self-described “surreal blues poet” savors the significance of words and the noisy poetry of city life.
A mysterious hum and a charismatic leader stoke chaos in Missy Mazzoli's opera
In The Listeners, a seductive cult leader and an unexplainable noise divides an innocent community and warps reality. Mazzoli's opera receives its U.S. premiere in Philadelphia.
Marking the centennial of jazz pianist Bud Powell
Born Sept. 27, 1924, Powell helped set the style for jazz piano after WWII. While earlier pianists played busy bass patterns, he helped establish a more fragmented, punctuating role for the left hand.
Ivan Cornejo: Tiny Desk Concert
Whether in a stadium of 75,000 or behind a desk in an office building, Ivan Cornejo sings two notes and the heart quiets.