Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Ella Fitzgerald And Louis Armstrong Go 'Cheek To Cheek' On A 4-Disc Set

12:05pm May 25, 2020

by Lloyd Schwartz

Fitzgerald's warm, yet ultra-cool voice was at the opposite pole of jazz singing from Armstrong's gravelly growl. There's absolutely no reason their voices should blend so effortlessly — but they do.

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Noah Cyrus' new EP The End of Everything incorporates contemporary pop, country, the gospel music of her grandfather and is inspired by a YouTube video about the end of the universe.

Music & Culture

Noah Cyrus On Growing Up In Public And 'The End Of Everything'

7:53am May 24, 2020

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to the singer-songwriter about stepping out from under her family's shadow, the end of the universe and the influence of her grandfather's gospel music on her songs.

The Coronavirus Pandemic Canceled His Concerts. This Is The Song That Helps Him Cope

7:53am May 24, 2020

Peter Russell of Washington, D.C., shares the song that's helping him get through these times, Franz Schubert's 'An Die Musik.'

Clem Snide with Scott Avett play a Tiny Desk (Home) concert.

Music & Culture

Clem Snide With Scott Avett: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

11:26am May 23, 2020

by Stephen Thompson

Clem Snide and Scott Avett play spiritually searching songs from Forever Just Beyond while maintaining social distancing for their Tiny Desk (home) concert.

Woods' album Strange To Explain was inspired by sleepless nights after singer Jeremy Earl became a father. "Those first few months of having a newborn kind of put me in a dreamlike state," he says.

Music & Culture

Inspired By Sleepless Nights, The New Woods Album Is 'Strange To Explain'

8:00am May 23, 2020

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Jeremy Earl about his band Woods and its new album, Strange to Explain, which he wrote in the months following the birth of his daughter.

Music & Culture

Pandemic Strikes Jazz Community

5:38pm May 22, 2020

by Christian McBride

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Christian McBride, the host of Jazz Night in America, about the toll the pandemic has taken on the jazz community.

Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga in the video for "Rain On Me."

Music & Culture

In Their First Collaboration, Lady Gaga And Ariana Grande Get Exuberantly Dystopic

5:13pm May 22, 2020

by Jon Lewis

Lady Gaga shared her second single ahead of Chromatica, including a first-time feature from Ariana Grande — and of course, a video to boot.

Fresh Air Remembers Beatles Photographer Astrid Kirchherr

1:55pm May 22, 2020

by Terry Gross

Kirchherr, who died May 12, who took the first publicity photos of the Beatles and is credited with giving the group their signature "mop-top" haircuts. Originally broadcast in 2008.

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Buddy and Kent Jamz play a Tiny Desk (Home) concert.

Music & Culture

Buddy And Kent Jamz: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

10:06am May 22, 2020

by Bobby Carter

The two rappers perform tracks from their joint mixtape Janktape Vol. 1 for our Tiny Desk quarantine series.

Moby continues to release music — this month, he put out a new album, All Visible Objects -- but in recent years his philanthropic and activist work on behalf of animal rights has taken up more of his time, money and skin.

Music & Culture

All That Moby Needs Is To Be Good

8:03am May 22, 2020

by Grayson Haver Currin

At 54 years old, the dance music superstar has shifted more of his time and money toward animal rights activism and philanthropy. Does he have to change himself if he wants to change the world?