Music Features

Steve Perry performs with Journey at a Chicago-area concert in 1981.

Music & Culture

'Don't Stop Believin" Goes On And On, Because We Need It To

2:18pm September 16, 2019

by Roben Farzad

Whatever your relationship with Journey's 1981 hit, a perseverance anthem that has itself persevered, there is no escaping the longing it evokes for youth, love and a chance at greatness.

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Andy Kirk And His Orchestra, including Mary Lou Williams (sitting at the piano), pose for a studio group portrait in 1940. Williams toured with Kirk's band before settling in New York.

Music & Culture

'Drag 'Em': How Movement Shaped The Music Of Mary Lou Williams

12:24pm September 14, 2019

by Daphne A. Brooks

Before settling in Harlem, Mary Lou Williams traveled the country playing with big bands. The road shaped her sound, and her theory of black music as "the greatest and only true art in the world."

Music & Culture

Soul On Soul: Allison Miller And Derrick Hodge On Honoring Mary Lou Williams

9:00am September 13, 2019

by Lara Pellegrinelli

At this year's Monterey Jazz Festival, drummer Allison Miller and bassist Derrick Hodge will pay tribute to Williams, revisiting her work from the 1960s and '70s with imaginative instrumentation.

Mary Lou Williams in 1942. In the 1930s and '40s, her apartment on 63 Hamilton Terrace formed an important space in advancing the evolution of jazz and the survival of musicians.

Music & Culture

A Woman's Place: The Importance Of Mary Lou Williams' Harlem Apartment

10:48am September 12, 2019

by Tammy Kernodle

From the outside, Williams' home looked like a typical Harlem brownstone. But inside, a generation of young artists etched out a radical agenda that would shift the music world off its axis.

Jazz helped Mary Lou Williams stay alive — but after several draining decades as a musician, she quit the scene. When she returned, she claimed her true power as one of jazz's fiercest advocates.

Music & Culture

Mary Lou Williams, Missionary Of Jazz

4:25pm September 11, 2019

by Jenny Gathright

In 1954, after several draining decades as a jazz composer, performer and mentor, Mary Lou Williams quit. When she returned, she claimed her true power as one of jazz's fiercest advocates.

Sampa The Great's debut studio album, The Return, will be released Sep. 13.

Music & Culture

Sampa The Great Finds Her Place

12:39pm September 11, 2019

by Dhruva Balram

Sampa The Great has followed a long — literally, as in criss-crossing the world — road on her way to developing and refining a singular, stunning voice. "Now, I'm like, let's go," she tells NPR Music.

Music & Culture

How To Swing Like Mary Lou Williams (Featuring Helen Sung)

11:00am September 11, 2019

Williams was known as "the lady who swings the band" thanks to her mastery of jazz's unique approach to rhythm. Watch jazz pianist Helen Sung explain what swing is and demonstrate how to do it.

Mary Lou Williams began arranging in 1929. By 1942, she was among the most renowned arrangers in the business.

Music & Culture

How Mary Lou Williams Shaped The Sound Of The Big-Band Era

12:57pm September 10, 2019

by Natalie Weiner

In jazz, arranging — designing parts to fit together and creating new spins on familiar songs — is often unglamorous. But Williams' incomparable success as an arranger only further proves her genius.

"Any person that wants to be a singer should know Ella Fitzgerald," Cuban artist Daymé Arocena says.

Music & Culture

How Ella Fitzgerald Is Influencing A New Generation Of Latinx Musicians

8:29am September 07, 2019

by Catalina Maria Johnson

Ella Fitzgerald's musical genius and influence is still being felt today. Latinx musicians Mabiland and Daymé Arocena explain how Fitzgerald inspires their music.

Music & Culture

Ella Fitzgerald In Soulsville

10:00am September 06, 2019

by Judith Tick

In the late '60s, young people were listening to soul music — so Fitzgerald started incorporating soul idioms into her concerts. One particular performance in 1968 shows how much she learned from it.