Music Features

Trombonist Jonas Gwangwa performs in Sandton, South Africa in 2017.

Music & Culture

Jonas Gwangwa, South African Musician And Activist, Dies At 83

9:00pm January 23, 2021

by Martin Johnson

The trombonist was a major figure in South Africa's early jazz scene, and an activist after the restrictions imposed by apartheid. In 1988 he was nominated for an Oscar for his theme to Cry Freedom.

Darlene Love in 1964. Love was the uncredited singer on a handful of the biggest hits produced by Phil Spector during the era when he was making his "Wall of Sound" production technique famous.

Music & Culture

The Voices Of Black Women Were Essential To Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound

11:39am January 21, 2021

by Maureen Mahon

The full impact of Spector's musical legacy is impossible to measure without accounting for the creative labor of singers like Darlene Love and the damage Spector's manipulations did to their careers.

Palberta's album Palberta5000 is out Jan. 22.

Music & Culture

Punk And Harmony: Rising Rock Trio Palberta Finds A Sweet Spot

9:00am January 19, 2021

by Sam Kesler

Just as soon as you think you have a frame of reference for the Brooklyn band's sound, it swerves into an entirely new direction. Palberta's new album, Palberta5000, comes out Jan. 22.

Maria Schneider (center) whose album Data Lords was one of 2020's most acclaimed jazz albums, performs with her orchestra at the New York City club Jazz Standard, where the group had an 16-year annual Thanksgiving week performance that was interrupted by

Music & Culture

We Need To Be Able To Feel

1:29pm January 15, 2021

by Nate Chinen

The cost of 2020 — in lives, livelihoods, legacies and communities — is high and still being tallied. For jazz critic Nate Chinen, all that loss demands change to old ideas of critical objectivity.

Maria Schneider, whose 2020 double album, Data Lords, recorded with her orchestra, was selected as the best of the year in annual NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll.

Music & Culture

The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll

3:54pm January 14, 2021

by Francis Davis

The best new and rediscovered jazz recordings that lit up the dark and unsettling year that just ended, as voted on by 148 jazz critics.

Music & Culture

The 2020 Jazz Critics Poll: It's After The End Of The World

2:16pm January 14, 2021

by Francis Davis

2020 was an annus horribilis if there ever was one, writes Francis Davis, the founder of NPR Music's Jazz Critics poll, and much of the year's best jazz carried post-apocalyptic feelings within it.

Music & Culture

Equal At Last? Women In Jazz, By The Numbers

10:20am January 12, 2021

Half of the top 10 spots in 2019's NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll went to women. But a deeper look at the data from across the poll's lifetime complicates claims about women's equality in jazz.

Music & Culture

Pandemic Promotes Unexpected Music Collaborations

5:37pm January 04, 2021

by Clay Masters

The pandemic has affected many musicians' lives. While they've been forced off busy touring schedules and out of concert halls, some have completed projects for which they needed some extra time.

Austin Guitarist Sees His Music In A 'New Way' After Suffering Stroke

5:27pm January 02, 2021

by Jack Morgan

In Austin, Texas, an accomplished writer and guitarist suffered a devastating stroke. He lost use of his strumming hand. But he still found a way to continue making beautiful music on his guitar.

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Dale Ann Bradley (left), Tina Adair, Gena Britt and Deanie Richardson (center) of the bluegrass band Sister Sadie do their impression of the rock band Queen.

Music & Culture

Bluegrass Band Sister Sadie Embodies Tradition, But Bends It Too

12:17pm January 01, 2021

by Jewly Hight

This fall, the bluegrass supergroup Sister Sadie became the first all-female band ever to win the top prize at the International Bluegrass Music Association awards.

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