Search results for

The American composer, who died Feb. 1, embraced many compositional styles, from the neo-classical to the avant-garde. He refused to identify his music with any particular school, declaring that he wanted to have "one foot in the past and one in the future."

In the early 1960s, an argumentative duo of outsider musicians developed a psychedelic breed of folk music and found a small but dedicated following. The Holy Modal Rounders' members are now inspiring a new generation of innovative folkies, as well as a new documentary.

Jeff "Tain" Watts, an original member of the Wynton Marsalis quintet, has released an album titled Watts. But it's no ego trip; the disc is inspired, at least in part, by L.A.'s Watts neighborhood.

Originally released in 1961, electric guitarist Grant Green's first album with Blue Note Records, Grant's First Stand, has been reissued. Green has a solid swinger's knack for skippy, airborne jazz rhythms, but some of his lines wouldn't sound out of place in a Chicago blues bar.

As Case tours the country, driving her own van and showcasing that powerhouse voice, she appears strong and fearless. But on her new album, Middle Cyclone, her heart is cracked open. Her songs tremble with the stunning reality that love is the one thing we need the most, and the one thing that we can never control.

Will Oldham's new album Beware, released under his country music name, Bonnie Prince Billy, offers lovely music with a tinge of "lonesome-cowboy pokiness." Ken Tucker has a review.

The singer and guitarist found fame with a band that exemplified the psychedelic '60s: Jefferson Airplane. Years after living the life of a rock star, Kaukonen is returning to his roots — blues and folk music — on his new album, River of Time.

As a teenager, the singer-songwriter was already touring the world with his rock band. His new album takes him back to before then, when country music blasted out of Texas radio stations. He performs a solo acoustic set in NPR's Studio 4A.

March is the month of tournaments, but why should college basketball have all the fun? Every weekday at NPR Music brings a new Song of the Day, so Jacki Lyden and Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson recently sat down to debate this past week's selections.

The Portland-based rock band is known for its anachronistic indie-pop songs featuring "chimbly sweeps" and "barrow boys." Their newest album, The Hazards of Love, is a 1970s-style concept album that some might call a rock opera.