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Jazz icon Louis Armstrong didn't just leave behind a treasure trove of musical recordings; he also documented hundreds of his private conversations on tape. Those recordings served as the basis for Terry Teachout's new biography of the legendary musician,
Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong.
For the past 10 years, the record industry has struggled to control how we listen to music. But the shift from CD to MP3 is just the latest iteration in the evolution of formats. The MP3 file has yanked music free from physical formats entirely, and the number of ways fans can experience music has exploded.
Vic Chesnutt was paralyzed from the waist down at the age of 18, but he's still a massively productive songwriter. Chesnutt has fifteen albums under his belt and his songs have been covered by Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, and R.E.M. His new album,
At The Cut, is a collaboration with Guy Picciotto of the band Fugazi.
After all these years, conductor Fritz Reiner's 1955 recording of Bartok's music remains the best. He understood the poignant, brooding, mysterious and exuberant moods it explores, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays as if it has been set on fire.
Producer Jack Perry and White worked together until the singer's death in 2003. Perry recently compiled and produced a four-disc retrospective box set spanning White's career, titled
Unlimited. NPR's Steve Inskeep recently spoke with Perry about the late soul singer.
A blend of traditional elements and modern tunes has made Jana Mashonee one of the most famous contemporary Native American performers. She's won eight Native American Music Awards and a Grammy nomination. Now the singer and songwriter is out with a new album:
New Moon Born. Jana Mashonee speaks about her music and her foundation
Jana's Kids, which helps Native American youth with scholarships.
Horace Clarence Boyer had a profound impact on gospel music over the past 50 years. He was one half of the Boyer Brothers, but was best known as one of the first scholars to formally study African-American sacred music. Boyer died in July at age 74.
DJ culture has always been fascinated with the concept of cool. But musician and artist Paul Miller — aka DJ Spooky — decided to get to the core of the phenomenon. His new multimedia project is structured around his sound recordings from the icy continent.
The name Belgrade still rings for many with memories of the recent civil war in Yugoslavia. But now a Serbian film crew is touring some small towns in the U.S. that share the name — gathering material for a documentary. So far, they've been to Belgrade, Minn., and Belgrade, Mont. Host Melissa Block caught up with the team as they drove toward Belgrade, Neb. She talks to the film's director, Miodrag Kolaric.
According to Yankovic, The Trashmen's legacy extends well beyond its status as the best surf band ever to come out of Minneapolis. With its 1964 hit "Surfin' Bird," the group distilled rock music to its essence.
His best-known work — the music to
A Charlie Brown Christmas — is currently airing across the country once again. But as a new anthology attests, Vince Guaraldi wrote and performed a lot more music that deserves attention, too.
In
Here Comes Science, the band They Might Be Giants tackles the scientific process, plasma physics, the role of blood in the body and the importance of DNA, all in song. Band members John Linnell and John Flansburgh discuss the album and play some science tunes.
Originally broadcast Sept. 25, 2009.
The Black Keys are known for their stripped-down, blues-inspired music. But in a new project called BlakRoc, they are breaking into the world of hip-hop and collaborating with rappers like RZA and Pharoahe Monch.
Promoting her new album,
The List (based on a list of must-have country songs given to her by her late father Johnny), Rosanne Cash puts on a one-of-a-kind performance. She also proposes her own list, in a
World Cafe Thanksgiving special that's not to be missed.
Why Corb Lund's wry storytelling and driving tempos aren't better known outside of his native Canada is a mystery. His new album,
Losin' Lately Gambler, could change all that, and bust some south-of-the-border stereotypes about Canadians in the process.
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