Music

Music & Culture

Betty Carter Concert Recording Captures The Singer At The Top Of Her Game

2:55pm April 02, 2019

by Kevin Whitehead

Carter had a late-career renaissance when she performed for New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1992. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the recording showcases how much feeling Carter put in her singing.

Clockwise from top row: Third Coast Percussion, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Julia Shapiro, Cautious Clay, Beth Gibbons

Music & Culture

New Mix: Cautious Clay, Third Coast Percussion, Jake Xerxes Fussell, More

8:43am April 02, 2019

This week's essential playlist includes Chastity Belt singer Julia Shapiro on her first solo album, Portishead's Beth Gibbons singing with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and more.

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Lang Lang's latest solo record Piano Book is out now.

Music & Culture

From A Piano Virtuoso, An Album For Beginners

8:13am April 02, 2019

Steve Inskeep speaks with superstar pianist Lang Lang about his new album, Piano Book, a reexamination of the classical music repertory he learned as child.

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Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Music & Culture

Nipsey Hussle, Grammy-Nominated Rapper And Philanthropist, Shot And Killed

9:04pm April 01, 2019

by Rodney Carmichael

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the news on Twitter Sunday night.

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Music & Culture

The Legacy That Rapper And Philanthropist Nipsey Hussle Leaves Behind

5:21pm April 01, 2019

by Rodney Carmichael

Rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot and killed Sunday in Los Angeles, was also an entrepreneur who tirelessly gave back to the community he came from.

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Weezer performs a Tiny Desk Concert on Feb. 27, 2019 (Amr Alfiky/NPR).

Music & Culture

Weezer: Tiny Desk Concert

12:34pm April 01, 2019

by Robin Hilton

Performing unplugged, the band forgoes its usual meticulousness in favor of a shaggy, entirely acoustic mix of new songs and '90s-era deep cuts.

Carly Rae Jepsen comes back with Dedicated on May 17.

Music & Culture

Carly Rae Jepsen Announces New Album 'Dedicated'

12:25pm April 01, 2019

by Joshua Bote

We are truly blessed. Dedicated comes out May 17.

Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (right) and members of his Golden Eagles tribe in March 2019 in New Orleans.

Music & Culture

In New Orleans, 'Indian Red' Is The Anthemic Sound Of Tradition

11:40am March 31, 2019

by Gwen Thompkins

African-Americans in the city have paraded in spectacular regalia inspired by Native American motifs for more than a century. The song of the Mardi Gras Indians exudes joy, defiance — and mystery.

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Soprano Christine Goerke, as Brünnhilde the Valkyrie warrior, at a dress rehearsal for Wagner's Die Walküre at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Music & Culture

The Valkyrie Who Maxed Out Her Credit Cards: Christine Goerke Sings Brünnhilde

7:55am March 30, 2019

Goerke, who's singing in the current Metropolitan Opera Ring cycle, overcame a vocal crisis to become one of today's leading dramatic sopranos.

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In this month's Heavy Rotation, a pop-meets-pensive bop from SOAK illuminates under a disco ball.

Music & Culture

Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing

7:00am March 30, 2019

Hear SOAK's disco-ball beat that won't quit, Faye Webster's breezy soliloquy and a raspy battle cry from Mavis Staples.