The Bad Plus With Bill Frisell, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2012
A long-running piano trio sui generis meets one of its heroes, a guitarist down for anything involving good musicians. Here, the group pays tribute to the late drummer and composer Paul Motian.» E-Mail...
View ArticleDiana Krall: Old-Time Music, Rooted In Nostalgia
On the new album Glad Rag Doll, Krall reimagines Prohibition-era songs, which she first heard as a child on weekend visits to her grandparents' house.» E-Mail This
View ArticleWhy Jazz Musicians Love 'The Rite Of Spring'
A 100-year-old ballet, composed by a Russian for a French audience, has become something of a standard in an idiom which didn't exist when it premiered. Whether covered, quoted or praised, Stravinsky's...
View ArticleColors Swirl In A Real Rite Of Spring
Composer and pianist Vijay Iyer and filmmaker Prashant Bhargava transport Igor Stravinsky's imagined springtime religious ritual to India, where such a celebration is real: the joyous Hindu holiday...
View ArticleFirst Listen: Preservation Hall Jazz Band, 'That's It!'
The jazz masters' first album of entirely original material pushes music lovers to dance. At its heart, That's It! is a memory trick, managing to sound both familiar and fresh. But this is more than a...
View ArticleAmir ElSaffar & Two Rivers: Golden Sound In A Gleaming Space
Framed by a beautiful array of vintage drums, the trumpeter and santur player pairs the sibling spirits of jazz and Arab classical music with the help of his quintet.» E-Mail This
View ArticleFirst Listen: Derrick Hodge, 'Live Today'
The Philadelphia area native grew up, quite literally, around jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller and DJ Jazzy Jeff, R&B singer Jill Scott and the Tribbett family of gospel singers. Now the bassist for...
View ArticleGregory Porter, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2013
Here's the next great male jazz singer. His forthcoming album is great, but he's even better live, surrounded with a long-running band that knows what he's after and enables it splendidly.» E-Mail This
View ArticleEddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2013
The fiery pianist has earned the right to be confident: He's been leading Latin jazz bands for over 50 years. "I don't guess I'm going to excite you with my band," he's been known to say. "I know it."»...
View ArticleJoshua Redman Quartet, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2013
The sight of the saxophonist raising his foot during a gritty solo has become common to Newport Jazz crowds. His latest record is a collection of ballads, but this program isn't quite so calm.» E-Mail...
View ArticleI Hear Bells: The NPR Music Wedding Puzzler
Like brides and grooms, wedding songs come in all varieties. Test your smarts with this smorgasbord of matrimonial music.» E-Mail This
View ArticleBest Songs Of The Year (So Far) Puzzler
Know your Sylvan Esso from your Future Islands, or Ana Tijoux from André Laos? Test your knowledge of current music in this puzzler and discover the year's best songs.» E-Mail This
View Article'La Marseillaise' Unmasked: A Bastille Day Puzzler
From movies and musicals to hit songs, the French national anthem has been appropriated in many contexts. Are you enough of a Francophile to spot them?» E-Mail This
View ArticleHerbie Hancock: 'On A Path To Find My Own Answer'
In a candid interview, the ever-innovative pianist traces the lines between Buddhist chants, Sly Stone and Miles Davis, while shedding new light on some hard facts about his past.» E-Mail This
View ArticleGhosts In The Music: A Spooky Songs Quiz
Think you know your musical ghouls and ghosts? From country and classical to rock and jazz, try this hair-raising Halloween puzzler.» E-Mail This
View ArticleSax Ed: The NPR Music Saxophone Quiz
From classical and rock to jazz and world music, the saxophone has invaded many cultures and styles. Try this quiz celebrating the bicentennial of the instrument's inventor, Adolphe Sax.» E-Mail This
View ArticleRudresh Mahanthappa And Samdhi, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2012
Some years ago, the alto saxophonist made an album which integrated his love of South Asian music, funk, hip-hop and electronic music. He's finally getting to tour that music, and it's electric.
View ArticleJenny Scheinman & Bill Frisell, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2012
The two long-time bandmates have both developed reputations for flexibility — for being able to collaborate with anyone. Their violin-and-guitar duo performance finds them alone together on stage.
View ArticleThree Cohens, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz 2012
Yuval, Anat and Avishai Cohen are top-tier jazz musicians. They're also siblings, and they occasionally record and perform together as a band. It's a family reunion you won't secretly dread.
View ArticleRyan Truesdell's Gil Evans Centennial Project, Live In Concert: Newport Jazz...
What if there were lost big-band masterpieces by the great composer/arranger Gil Evans which never made it to record? One man has found a whole stash of charts, and has brought their hues to light.
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