Music

Part of understanding African sacred music means thinking about its colonial context. It's the music of oppressed people combined with the music of their oppressors. For decades, Fred Onovwerosuoke has collected and arranged this music for choral groups.

In the new book What You Want Is in the Limo, author Michael Walker argues that a peak year in the careers of Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and The Who also marked a cultural shift — from the peace, love and understanding of 1960-era music to '70s rock decadence.

Daniels is one of the world's most celebrated countertenors: male vocalists who sing in a range usually associated with women. Hear a sneak preview from the new opera Oscar, starring the famous countertenor as Oscar Wilde.

In the Bible, Psalm 150 tells the faithful to praise the Lord with trumpet, harp, tambourine, stringed instrument and cymbal. In the United House of Prayer for All People, it's all about the trombones. No one knows exactly how trombones ended up in church, but it's an intensely vocal sound.

The group's 1993 debut was the opening shot of an audacious plan to open the music industry to hip-hop made way outside the mainstream.

A high-concept collaborative album by a veteran rapper and a film composer knits together hip-hop and soul music.

Our series about rap's greatest year begins with the album that drew directly on cultural and social upheaval to make one of the most popular rap albums of all time.

The club, which booked bands like R.E.M., the Replacements and Yo La Tengo before and after they hit the big time, is shutting down while "people still love us," says an owner.

George Reid and Aluna Francis have become darlings of the European festival circuit, making soulful, beat-savvy music as AlunaGeorge. The two musicians first met to write material for Francis' old band, but soon found they had a chemistry all their own.

On the clarinetist's latest album, the blues might be modernized or tweaked, but it's never far away. Fresh Air's jazz critic says The Edenfred Files is modest in a good way, like a musical chapbook or novella. The scale suits Harper's pointedly focused music.