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Ry Cooder artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
The Grammy-winning singer/guitarist has spent his decades-spanning career experimenting with rootsy American music — from Dust Bowl folk to blues, gospel and world music. He's released more than 20 albums, counting his film scores, dating back to the early '70s.
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For more than 40 years, Ry Cooder has shown his prowess as a gifted musical jack-of-all-trades. His latest release, Chavez Ravine, is a concept album dealing with the demise of the Mexican-American Los Angeles neighborhood of Chavez Ravine.
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Cuban guitarist Manuel Galban became known in the U.S. after playing with Buena Vista Social Club and winning a Grammy with Ry Cooder. But Galban has long been famous in Cuba because of his work with one of Cuba's most famous groups of the 1960s.
()The Grammy-winning singer/guitarist has spent his decades-spanning career experimenting with rootsy American music — from Dust Bowl folk to blues, gospel and world music. He's released more than 20 albums, counting his film scores, dating back to the early '70s.
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On his latest CD, Ry Cooder recounts hardships of the Dust Bowl migration through the story of a "red" cat named Buddy and his two traveling buddies. The story was inspired by a real feline who slept in a suitcase.
()In 1997, Ry Cooder sparked an international interest in Cuban music as producer and guitarist on the hit CD "Buena Vista Social Club." He recently returned to the same studio where that album was recorded, this time to collaborate with legendary Cuban guitarist Manuel Galban. Listen to an extended version of Cooder's conversation with NPR's Michele Norris, exclusive to NPR Online.
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Ry Cooder manipulates the sound of 1930s American music: minstrel folk, country ballads, blues and even the lounge jazz of Chet Baker. The Woody Guthrie-esque lament "Cardboard Avenue" pushes the influences together to create a new style that's distinctively Cooder.
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Many contemporary listeners know Ry Cooder as the producer and guitarist behind Buena Vista Social Club, the 1997 project that revived the careers of long-forgotten Cuban ballad singers. Lost among his early works is an eclectic little under-loved gem: Boomer's Story.
()Remembering lost L.A. with Ry Cooder; 'Bohemian Rhapsody' retooled by Grey Delisle; A new vocal recording from Brian Eno; Legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett; Vivaldi via Bach via Alexandre Tharaud; The return of electronica duo Kraftwerk; A reissued classic by Gang of Four; Masterful indie pop from Spoon; A debut from New York's The Cloud Room.
()A sneak peek at new work from Ry Cooder; Iceland's beautiful but elfish Sigur Ros; An All Songs great unknown: Jamie Janover; A dreamy instrumental from Japancakes; Former PJ Harvey guitarist John Parish; and seventy-two live CDs later, Pearl Jam has a collection of all-new work.
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Guitarist, composer and singer Ry Cooder is the latest in a string of artists to take up the story of Chavez Ravine — an impoverished Los Angeles neighborhood of immigrants. Years ago, Los Angeles officials picked the area as the new home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today, Chavez Ravine is the home of Dodger Stadium.
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Julianne Shepherd of The Fader discusses this week's new music releases, including albums by Sigur Ros, Three 6 Mafia, Hercules and Love Affair, and Ry Cooder.
()Ry Cooder manipulates the sound of 1930s American music: minstrel folk, country ballads, blues and even the lounge jazz of Chet Baker. The Woody Guthrie-esque lament "Cardboard Avenue" pushes the influences together to create a new style that's distinctively Cooder.
()Weekend Edition Sunday music director Ned Wharton takes a look beyond Mariah and Bono at some Grammy nominated music you might not have heard. Jimmy Sturr's Shake, Rattle and Polka, anyone?
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