Music

Music & Culture

At 70, Smithsonian Folkways Is An Antidote To Music Algorithms

1:51pm May 01, 2018

by Bob Boilen

Smithsonian Folkways, known for its broad-based music catalog, wants to surprise you with sounds you didn't even know existed. The treasured American label turns 70 years old on May 1.

Guitarist Slash shows off a new Gibson instrument in Las Vegas in January.

Music & Culture

Gibson Guitars Files For Bankruptcy Protection

1:12pm May 01, 2018

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

In a bid to stay afloat, the company that has outfitted many of the world's top musicians says that in its turnaround effort, it will focus on making guitars,

Anderson East inside the World Cafe Performance Studio

Music & Culture

Anderson East On World Cafe

9:19am May 01, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

Bringing the high jumps and sheer vocal prowess to his latest album Encore, East performs new songs and speaks of working with Dave Cobb, Avicii and more.

R. Kelly, performing in 2015 in Brooklyn, New York.

Music & Culture

Time's Up Joins Call To Shut Down R. Kelly

9:08pm April 30, 2018

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The Women of Color committee within the Time's Up movement called on RCA Records, Ticketmaster, Spotify and Apple Music to cut ties to the singer accused of sexual misconduct.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?: Kids' TV, Then And Now

5:42pm April 30, 2018

Meet the woman in charge of PBS Kids.

Some of the members of the We Have Voice Collective, the authors of a new code of conduct for preventing harassment in performing arts spaces. Front row, seated (left to right): Linda May Han Oh, Jen Shyu, Sara Serpa. Back row, standing (left to right): I

Music & Culture

A Map To The Line, And How Not To Cross It: A Code Of Conduct For The Performing Arts

3:57pm April 30, 2018

by Michelle Mercer

A collective of 14 female jazz musicians known as We Have Voice have released a code of conduct aimed at reducing harassment in spaces dedicated to the performing arts.

Bedouine performs a Tiny Desk Concert on April 16, 2018 (Bob Boilen/NPR).

Music & Culture

Bedouine: Tiny Desk Concert

3:22pm April 30, 2018

by Bob Boilen

Bedouine is Azniv Korkejian, a singer and guitarist who echoes sounds from the 1960's North American folk songwriters, but with vocal inflections closer to Leonard Cohen than to Joni Mitchell.

Chick Corea with World Cafe host Talia Schlanger inside a rehearsal room at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Music & Culture

Chick Corea On World Cafe

2:14pm April 30, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

The revered jazz pianist shares stories about working with Miles Davis and watching Thelonious Monk perform while we try to wrap our heads around the breakneck pace of his creative life.

The first draft of the Hamilton song "Burn" is the fourth new song in Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamildrops' series.

Music & Culture

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Latest Hamildrop Features All The Elizabeths

1:59pm April 30, 2018

by Sidney Madden

The latest installment of the 'Hamildrop' series features every Eliza singing in love-scorned unison the first draft of "Burn."

A still from Kacey Musgraves' "Space Cowboy" video.

Music & Culture

Kacey Musgraves Sets 'Space Cowboy' To A Twilight Fade

12:21pm April 30, 2018

by Lars Gotrich

Like love and sunsets, Musgraves' new video captures the moments of a broken relationship in fuzzy shades of color.