Music

Boston rapper Cousin Stizz. His latest release, Searching For My Next Thrill, is on our shortlist for the best new albums out this week.

Music & Culture

New Music Friday: Our Top 8 Albums Out On Aug. 16

5:00am August 16, 2019

Our sprint through the best new albums out this week include Sleater-Kinney's The Center Won't Hold, Boston rapper Cousin Stizz, R&B singer Snoh Aalegra, the country singer Lillie Mae and more.

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Plácido Domingo, 78, performs onstage during the dress rehearsal of "Spanish Night" at the 150th Choregie in Orange, France, in July.

Music & Culture

Plácido Domingo Accuser Patricia Wulf Shares Her Story

7:47pm August 15, 2019

by Ailsa Chang

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Patricia Wulf, a mezzo-soprano who says she was uncomfortable with aggressive advances made by revered opera star Plácido Domingo.

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Maybelle Carter, playing her autoharp, performs with her daughter, Helen.

Music & Culture

For Women Musicians, Maybelle Carter Set The Standard And Broke The Mold

4:37pm August 15, 2019

by Tift Merritt

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.

Lydia Mendoza had one of the most extensive performance careers for Mexican American women singers and an immense recording archive. Listeners to border radio in the 1930s would have heard her music alongside that of Maybelle Carter.

Music & Culture

On The Border With Maybelle Carter And Lydia Mendoza

3:22pm August 15, 2019

by Deborah Vargas

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.

Music & Culture

Remembering Bob Wilber, A Standard Bearer For Traditional Jazz

2:35pm August 15, 2019

by Terry Gross

The saxophonist and clarinetist, a student of Sidney Bechet and thusly a specialist in early styles, died Aug. 4 at the age of 91. He spoke with Terry Gross in 1988.

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Miles and Betty Davis in color in Miles' New York westside brownstone, 1969

Music & Culture

Electric Miles: Behind The 'Brew'

2:09pm August 15, 2019

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

Courtney Marie Andrews demonstrates how to play the "Carter scratch"

Music & Culture

How To Play The 'Carter Scratch' (Featuring Courtney Marie Andrews)

10:37am August 15, 2019

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.

Fans sit atop a painted bus at the Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel, N.Y., in August 1969.

Music & Culture

How Woodstock Changed The Little Town Of Bethel, N.Y.

9:35am August 15, 2019

by Karen Michel

Fifty years later, the site of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair is on the National Register of Historic Places. For some who were there, it's a place of pilgrimage and memories.

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Music & Culture

The Long Ride To 'Old Town Road': Black Artists And Their Contributions To Country Music

5:13pm August 14, 2019

Country music is getting off its high horse.

Music & Culture

A$AP Rocky Found Guilty Of Assault

4:31pm August 14, 2019

by Andrew Limbong

The rapper was convicted of assault by a Swedish court but will serve no additional jail time in a case that has drawn widespread attention from the music industry and President Trump.