Music

'Artists, Weirdos, Hellriders And Homies:' Thrasher Magazine Turns 40

9:47am January 14, 2021

by Milton Guevara

Thrasher magazine was founded 40 years ago in San Francisco to cover skateboarding. Over the next four decades, the black-and-white newsprint magazine grew into a full color cultural arbiter.

Queue Listen Now

Cellist Ofra Harnoy is featured in this week's episode.

Music & Culture

Thistle & Shamrock: New Year Sounds

8:00am January 14, 2021

Hear Fiona Ritchie's collection of new sounds for the new year. This week's episode includes The Chair, John Doyle and cellist Ofra Harnoy.

Music & Culture

Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: Vox Sambou, Aditya Prakash, Martha Redbone And More

8:00pm January 13, 2021

by Bob Boilen

Wednesday night's showcases blends the sounds of Haiti, India, Italy and the Indigenous people of North America.

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

Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: Dedicated Men Of Zion, Labess, Sofia Rei & DakhaBrakha

8:01pm January 11, 2021

by Bob Boilen

Our first night of live performances features music from Algeria, Argentina, Ukraine and North Carolina.

Tim Shantz conducts Luminous Voices' first car concert on Oct. 4, 2020.

Car Concerts Offer Choirs A Way To Rehearse And Perform

10:51am January 11, 2021

by Nina Kravinsky

This car choir solution is one that accomplished baritone David Newman came up with so that ensembles could sing "together." The method uses microphones, a mixer, an FM transmitter and car radios.

Queue Listen Now

Baritone Will Liverman's upcoming album is devoted to Black composers past and present.

Music & Culture

NPR's Classical Music Editor Previews 2 Albums You'll Want To Hear

8:44am January 11, 2021

by Tom Huizenga

NPR's resident classical music specialist Tom Huizenga previews two of the albums he's looking forward to spending time with in 2021.

Queue Listen Now

Introducing... is the solo debut of Aaron Frazer, best known for drumming and singing with Durand Jones & the Indications.

Music & Culture

On 'Introducing...,' Aaron Frazer Contemplates Love And The Road Ahead

12:41pm January 10, 2021

Best known for drumming and singing with soul revival band Durand Jones & The Indications, Frazer charts his own course on his solo debut, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Teenage Banjo Prodigy To Perform At Virtual globalFEST

7:52am January 09, 2021

15-year-old singer and banjo player Nora Brown is a rising star taking on traditional Appalachian music - she'll appear next Thursday as part of New York's music festival, globalFEST.

Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, performing in Carhaix-Plouguer, France in 2006.

Tracy Chapman Wins Lawsuit Against Nicki Minaj

3:57pm January 08, 2021

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

According to the suit, Minaj re-recorded the lyrics and vocal melody of Chapman's song "Baby Can I Hold You" without permission. Minaj will pay the singer-songwriter $450,000 in an order of judgment.