Search results for

The new film A Mighty Wind -- from the comic talent behind Spinal Tap -- spoofs the folk music era of the early 1960s. The original songs were filmed as live performances. Eugene Levy, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest are among the stars. They talk with NPR's Melissa Block.

Gary Gladstone has been to Mars, Purgatory and Hell, and he has the photographs to prove it. In a new book, Passing Gas: And Other Towns Along the American Highway, the award-winning photographer offers photos of more than 75 small towns across the United States with unusual names. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Gladstone about his journey through small-town America.

The British electronic duo Death in Vegas scores in British dance clubs by mixing rock and techno. The duo's latest CD is called Scorpio Rising. Charles de Ledesma offers a review.

The Pentagon's practice of embedding reporters with U.S.-led troops in Iraq has an unexpected consequence. Many military families can keep better track of their loved ones through the news media than through infrequent e-mails and phone calls. NPR's Linda Wertheimer reports.

Arturo Sandoval's virtuosity is on full display in his newest album, Trumpet Evolution. On each of 19 songs, he imitates the style and technique of a great trumpeter who has come before him -- from Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie to Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. NPR's Linda Wertheimer speaks with Sandoval about his musical tribute.

As the nation celebrates National Poetry Month, NPR's Susan Stamberg interviews poet Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. They discuss the NEA's comeback from controversies and the outlook for arts funding. Hear Gioia read his poem, "Unsaid," at npr.org.

Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji dies Sunday at age 76. Olatunji recorded an album in 1959 called Drums of Passion, and it was for many Americans their first exposure to African drumming. While studying at Atlanta's Morehouse College, Olatunji learned about Africa, colonialism, slavery, and about being dark skinned in America in the '50s, and he became an ambassador for African Culture in America. We remember his music.

Director Neil Jordan brings a smoky, jazzy sensibility -- and some new twists -- to his remake of the classic 1955 French film, Bob Le Flambeur. But The Good Thief's best asset may be its star Nick Nolte, who portrays a "glorious wreck." NPR's Bob Mondello reports.

The documentary film Rivers and Tides focuses on the "wilderness art" of Andy Goldsworthy -- enhanced dramatically by the big screen. Goldsworthy uses natural elements to create work that is often ephemeral in nature. Los Angeles Times film critic Ken Turan offers a review.

Using a bare outline discovered in historical documents, Dutch musicologist Jos Van der Zanden has reconstructed an oboe concerto that Beethoven wrote at age 22. Van der Zanden speaks with NPR's Susan Stamberg.