The Eagles' Glenn Frey Dies At 67
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Today, we received word that Glenn Frey has died. He was one of the founding members of the Eagles. And he was one of the key songwriters for...
View ArticleMusic Review: 'Take Me To the Alley,' Gregory Porter
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Gregory Porter is a jazz singer who is pushing the boundaries of jazz singing. In the last few years, he's recorded with bluesman Buddy Guy,...
View ArticleMusic Review: 'Lovers,' Nels Cline
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Nels Cline from Wilco plays epic guitar solos. (SOUNDBITE OF WILCO SONG, "IMPOSSIBLE GERMANY") CORNISH: Away from Wilco, Nels Cline tends to...
View ArticleIn 'Acoustic Recordings,' Jack White Winks At Tradition
Every so often, you run across a collection that opens up an entirely new way to think about an artist. Jack White 's new, 26-track retrospective, which focuses on his unplugged, less raucous songs,...
View ArticleFrom Slavic Soul Party!, A Match Made In High-Concept Heaven
In 1963, Duke Ellington and his orchestra participated in a State Department "jazz diplomacy" tour of the Middle East. Inspired by the experience, Ellington and composer Billy Strayhorn wrote a...
View ArticleReview: Bob Dylan, 'The 1966 Live Recordings'
Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. Before he began the tour that's documented on the 36-disc set The 1966 Live Recordings , Bob Dylan was on record as being...
View ArticleA Club Performance From 1960s Detroit Holds One Key To Motown's Success
Over the years, music fans have slowly filled in details about a hard-working, mostly anonymous collective of Detroit studio musicians known as The Funk Brothers, who were the backing band for many of...
View ArticleOn 'Drunk,' Thundercat Weaves Major Pop Hooks Into Minor Life Vignettes
Stephen Bruner is a bass player, singer and songwriter who's as well known for his own music as for his collaborations. But when he released his latest solo single as Thundercat few weeks ago, those...
View ArticleReview: Bob Dylan, 'Triplicate'
Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify or Apple Music playlist at the bottom of the page. Bob Dylan is evidently not...
View ArticleMusic Review: 'Pleasure,' Feist
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: After a six-year hiatus, Canadian singer Feist is back. She's out with her fifth album. It's called "Pleasure," but that's a bit of a...
View ArticleNewly Uncovered Recordings Find Thelonious Monk In His Prime
In 1959, the peak of his playing years, Thelonious Monk did something he'd never done before: record music for a film. Released in the U.S. as Dangerous Liaisons , the French film Les Liaisons...
View ArticleThe Collaborative Concept Album 'Planetarium' Captures Cosmic Grandeur And...
Since its premiere in 1918, Gustav Holst 's symphonic cycle The Planets has effectively defined the informal genre of "music about space." But more recently, four prominent artists from different...
View ArticleReview: Neil Young, 'Hitchhiker'
Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify or Apple Music playlist at the bottom of the page. Recording is a little bit like...
View ArticleBad Plus Seems Jolted Alive On 'Never Stop II'
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit (SOUNDBITE OF THE BAD PLUS' "LAYIN' A STRIP FOR THE HIGHER-SELF STATE LINE") ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: In any work scenario, it's hard to predict what the dynamic will...
View Article'After Bach' Offers Brad Mehldau's Well-Tempered Jazz
When Johann Sebastian Bach compiled the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier in 1722, he wrote that the 24 preludes and fugues were "for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and...
View ArticleVan Morrison And Joey DeFrancesco Make A Lethal Addition To An Old Canon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etxTtIoOEfY Van Morrison was 22 years old, flat broke and running out of options when he and a skeleton crew of jazz musicians recorded what became his most heralded...
View ArticleGraham Nash Shares His Demos From 'Over The Years...'
Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify or Apple Music playlist at the bottom of the page. If his own memoir and various...
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