Music

Barbershop: Black History Month, Macklemore And "Blizzard Baes"

5:04pm January 23, 2016

NPR's Sam Sanders, Arun Venugopal of WNYC, and comedian Amanda Seales talk about inflammatory comments by actress Stacey Dash, the new single by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and "blizzard baes."

"I feel everything that everybody else feels, I promise you," Yanni says. "But there is no reason for me to write music out of anger or frustration, or anything that is negative."

Music & Culture

'New Age Becomes Old Age Very Quickly': Yanni Speaks

10:32am January 23, 2016

by NPR Staff

After dozens of albums and world-spanning tours, the king of new age says he's still baffled by the term. He speaks with NPR's Scott Simon.

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2015 and 2016 Tiny Desk Contest entrants, clockwise from top left: Gage Green, Boon, Aupaya and Spirits of the Red City.

Music & Culture

Snowed In At The Tiny Desk Contest

9:00am January 23, 2016

by Bob Boilen

The contest deadline is Feb. 2. If the weather's got you housebound this weekend, why not make your video?

The routines that students learn at Dance for PD classes in Venice, Calif., can be quite challenging, instructors say.

Dance Returns The 'Joy Of Movement' To People With Parkinson's

8:14am January 23, 2016

by Ina Jaffe

Many struggle with tremors and balance much of the time, but when the music starts, these people dance. It gives them joy — body and soul. Scientists say dance might have lasting brain benefits, too.

Music & Culture

Bobby Enriquez On Piano Jazz

6:06pm January 22, 2016

Hear the "wild man of jazz" play "Just One Of Those Things" and "Bumble Rumble Blues."

'Ain't Got No Home': Why Woody Guthrie Despised Donald Trump's Father

5:18pm January 22, 2016

Will Kaufman, a professor of American literature and culture at the University of Central Lancashire, says he has discovered unpublished lyrics by Woody Guthrie, in which the folk singer denounced Fred Trump, Donald's father. The elder Trump happened to be Guthrie's landlord in the early 1950s.

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Music & Culture

Latin Roots: Essential Divas

4:41pm January 22, 2016

Beat Latino's Catalina Maria Johnson spotlights three of the greatest divas in Latin music.

The supernatural investigations of FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are scored by composer Mark Snow.

Music & Culture

As 'X-Files' Returns, Meet The Man Behind The Theme Song

4:13pm January 22, 2016

by Tim Greiving

At creator Chris Carter's request, composer Mark Snow tried to make the X-Files theme sound like The Smiths. In the process, he stumbled on a very different sound — that would become iconic.

Madisen Ward & The Mama Bear performs live on WGBH.

Music & Culture

Front Row: Madisen Ward And The Mama Bear, 'Yellow Taxi'

3:49pm January 22, 2016

by Greg Shea

Watch the mother-son folk duo perform one of its charming songs live in Boston.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Great American Canyon Band, 'Crash'

1:35pm January 22, 2016

by Bruce Warren

Transient troubadours, Paul and Krystal Jean Masson, create a drifting kind of Cosmic American dream-pop; watch and listen to the lead track off their debut album.