Music Features

Jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater offers a playlist of Billie Holiday's greatest songs paired with versions performed by other artists.

Baby Rose's smokey voice evokes a wisdom beyond her years. That's part of what sets the rising singer's debut album, To Myself, apart from the current R&B scene.

There really was no precedent for Maybelle Carter, who learned to play from her own mother and spent much of her life teaching her children — as well as generations of country stars that followed.

The Center Won't Hold casts an uneasy gaze on technology and politics; it's also the band's last album with its longtime drummer. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker.

One of the most indispensable guitarists of all time, Carter was a quiet revolutionary. Though she didn't concern herself with celebrity or need to be the star, she deserves our deepest admiration.

We rarely place Mendoza and Carter, both great guitarists and lead vocalists in family bands, in conversation — though listeners to border radio stations in the late 1930s were often fans of both.

We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis going electric for Bitches Brew — part controversial, part revolutionary and as a whole, historic.

Maybelle Carter's guitar innovation helped revolutionize the way the instrument is played. Watch Americana singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews show you how it's done.

Her musical career began in childhood. She witnessed the dawn of the recording era and helped create country music as one of the genre's biggest acts. But Maybelle Carter never stopped working.

What happens when an artist you count on to be one way suddenly isn't? For writer Hanif Abdurraquib, appreciating the left-turn album The Center Won't Hold has meant letting go of years of nostalgia.

The degree to which Mother Maybelle's guitar playing influenced the next century of country and roots music cannot be overstated. In this playlist, hear her Carter Scratch echo across generations.

Bikini Kill's instant anthem for the '90s riot grrrl movement found new purpose at rock camps, where young girls learn to express themselves through music. Hanna breaks it down with NPR's Ann Powers.