Music & Culture

Bobby "Blue" Bland performs on stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, in 1989.

Music & Culture

Remembering The Multidimensional Music Of Bobby 'Blue' Bland

6:10pm June 24, 2013

Bland's music is the kind that can school anyone about the incomprehensible depths of love, the importance of dignity and the promise of the kind of good life that really might be within reach.

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In his new memoir, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson describes his life in music — and how he mimicked beats at just 10 months old.

Questlove's Roots: A 'Meta' Memoir Of A Lifetime In Music

4:55pm June 24, 2013

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the co-founder of and drummer for the hip-hop band The Roots, has been a musician since he was a teen. In Mo' Meta Blues, he explains how his musician father groomed him for a life in show business from an early age.

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Violinist Amandine Beyer holds Mozart's own violin backstage at Boston's Jordan Hall on Monday.

Music & Culture

Playing Mozart — On Mozart's Violin

1:21pm June 24, 2013

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Hearing — and holding — Mozart's own instruments is a thrill like no other. The great composer's violin and viola, which are only pulled out of storage in Salzburg about once a year, are in the United States for the very first time. And the magic they wield is undeniable.

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Jimmy Eat World's new album, Damage, is its eighth in 20 years together. Left to right: Rick Burch, Zach Lind, Jim Adkins and Tom Linton.

Music & Culture

Jimmy Eat World Finds The Fuel To Keep Going

1:20pm June 24, 2013

by NPR Staff

Perhaps best known for its 2001 hit, "The Middle," the band recently released its eighth studio album, Damage. Lead singer Jim Adkins talks about the band's evolution through two decades together.

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Graveola celebrates its hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in the song "Babulina's Trip."

Music & Culture

DJ Betto Arcos Spins The Latest From Brazil

5:02pm June 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

The host of KPFK's Global Village brings samba, reggae and more to weekends on All Things Considered.

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When played on the radio in 1963, songs like Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" were code to Birmingham youths, telling them to assemble.

Music & Culture

Shake, Rattle And Rally: Code Songs Spurred Activism In Birmingham

7:11pm June 21, 2013

by NPR Staff

In 1963, civil rights activists wanted to recruit more of the city's young people to the cause. The way to their hearts was often through DJs and music.

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Yeezus is Kanye West's seventh studio album.

Music & Culture

On 'Yeezus,' Kanye West Sounds Strikingly Self-Aware

2:28pm June 21, 2013

by Ken Tucker

West has been busy in both the music and gossip worlds: He's just released a new album, titled Yeezus, and fathered a child. Rock critic Ken Tucker says West's constant blending of his public life and his music makes his new record all the more striking — and at times problematic.

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Bobbie Hanvey as a child with his father, Johnny Hanvey. Johnny was a lumberjack who used to go everywhere with a camera. He gave one to his son, and set him off on a career as a photojournalist and documentarian.

Music & Culture

Like Father, Like Son: Creating Art In A Time Of Troubles

4:01pm June 19, 2013

by Coburn Dukehart

Bobbie Hanvey is a prolific photojournalist and radio interviewer from Northern Ireland. His son Steafán is a musician, currently on tour in America. In a video featuring their photos and music, father and son reflect on art, their relationship, and the period of turmoil in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles.

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Kanye West at his album listening party at Milk Studios last week in New York City.

Music & Culture

Kanye's 'Yeezus' Packs A Bite

6:18pm June 18, 2013

by Oliver Wang

After months of speculation, West's latest album reveals itself as a trim, 10-song, 40-minute effort that's heavy on electronic and industrial influences. It's also another piece of the puzzle to one of pop music's most compelling — and frustrating — figures.

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Miami-born CÃ©cile McLorin Salvant learned about improvisation and sang with her first band after moving to France in 2007.

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Making Old Songs New Again

3:46pm June 18, 2013

by Kevin Whitehead

The 23-year-old jazz phenom's debut album showcases her takes on vintage jazz and blues numbers by Bessie Smith, Fats Waller and others. You can trace some of her effects back to jazz greats like Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln.

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