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A World Cafe Holiday: Sharon Jones, Jack Johnson, Betty Wright And More

Stream a special holiday edition of World Cafe. Rich McKie/WXPN hide caption

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Rich McKie/WXPN

World Cafe

A World Cafe Holiday: Sharon Jones, Jack Johnson, Betty Wright And More

XPN

This special edition of World Cafe features holiday performances from Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Jack Johnson, The Polyphonic Spree and more.

A World Cafe Holiday

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You're Gonna Hear Them Roar: 'I Am Woman' Is An Anthem Beyond Its Era

"I Am Woman" singer Helen Reddy performs in 1970. Ian Dickson/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

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Ian Dickson/Redferns/Getty Images

American Anthem

You're Gonna Hear Them Roar: 'I Am Woman' Is An Anthem Beyond Its Era

Helen Reddy's 1972 single captured the spirit of second-wave feminism. Today, its echoes still sound in American culture — including a version that arrived just in time for #MeToo.

You're Gonna Hear Them Roar: 'I Am Woman' Is An Anthem Beyond Its Era

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Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular

Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular. Dave Christensen/OPB hide caption

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Dave Christensen/OPB

NPR's Holiday Favorites

Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular

opbmusic.org

With timeless classics and rarely heard gems, the "little orchestra" spreads holiday cheer with the help of NPR's Ari Shapiro.

Pink Martini's Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular

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All Things Considered Host Ari Shapiro Plays DJ

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Doby Photography/NPR

All Songs Considered

All Things Considered Host Ari Shapiro Plays DJ

The new host for NPR's evening news magazine joins All Songs Considered to discuss musicals, powerful voices and why Paul Simon's Graceland never gets old.

All Things Considered Host Ari Shapiro Plays DJ

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Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

Pink Martini performs on Mountain Stage. Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage hide caption

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Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage

Mountain Stage

Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

The "little orchestra" plays songs from its latest album, a collaboration with members of the legendary von Trapp family titled Dream a Little Dream.

Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

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Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale On 'Song Travels'

"I think that's maybe my best strength as a musician: the ability to accompany and to breathe with whoever's taking the lead," Thomas Lauderdale says. Autumn de Wilde hide caption

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Autumn de Wilde

Song Travels

Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale On 'Song Travels'

NPR's Ari Shapiro and others join the Pink Martini co-founder in a journey through popular song.

Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale On 'Song Travels'

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Pink Martini On World Cafe

Pink Martini. Autumn De Wilde hide caption

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Autumn De Wilde

World Cafe

Pink Martini On World Cafe

The small orchestra is colorful and classy with a global sound. Its latest release, Joy to the World, features holiday music from a number of countries. Hear songs from the album, performed live.

Pink Martini On World Cafe

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A Civil Rights Figure's Long Road — To Carnegie Hall

Myrlie Evers-Williams leads her three children — Reena (from left), Van and Darrell — at the family piano, circa 1965. Courtesy of the Evers family hide caption

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Courtesy of the Evers family

Music Interviews

A Civil Rights Figure's Long Road — To Carnegie Hall

Myrlie Evers-Williams is the widow of assassinated civil rights activist Medgar Evers. After her husband's death, she became a noted activist herself. But music has always been one of her loves, and she's about to fulfill a longtime dream on the Carnegie stage.

A Civil Rights Figure's Long Road — To Carnegie Hall

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Pink Martini At The Walt Disney Concert Hall

Pink Martini. James Wilder Hancock hide caption

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James Wilder Hancock

Concerts

Pink Martini At The Walt Disney Concert Hall

WBGO

It's quite a night in Los Angeles at the stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall. With the super-stylish and globally attuned Pink Martini — 19 musicians plus guests — every song is a polished gem.

Pink Martini in Concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall 12/31/08

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Pink Martini: A Tale Of Two Songs

Pink Martini's new album is Splendor in the Grass. Adam Levey hide caption

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Adam Levey

Music News

Pink Martini: A Tale Of Two Songs

The songs "And Then You're Gone" and "But Now I'm Back" began as one, with a little help from Franz Schubert. With some ingenious songwriting and a little help from NPR's Ari Shapiro, together the songs tell the tale of a love lost — and perhaps won again.

Pink Martini: A Tale Of Two Songs

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Toast Of The Nation

Pink Martini: An Eclectic Splash Of Strings

WBGO

Pink Martini brought its eclectic stylings to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles this New Year's Eve. With a splash of orchestral strings, smooth lyrics and a swig of a cha-cha, Pink Martini had the crowd raising its glasses for more.

Pink Martini in Concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall 12/31/08

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Studio Sessions

The Broken Romances of Pink Martini's 'Eugene'

Across musical styles, genres and cultures, Pink Martini's latest CD explores the heartbreak of a lover spurned. The band performs songs from Hey Eugene!, one so fast it threatens to fly off the musical tracks.

The Broken Romances of Pink Martini's 'Eugene'

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Studio Sessions

Pink Martini's Dark Take on a Doris Day Classic

You probably know it as such a happy song. But Doris Day's "Que Sera Sera," as performed by Pink Martini, might make you feel downright blue. The band explains its take on the 1956 classic.

Pink Martini's Dark Take on a Doris Day Classic

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Music Interviews

Shaken and Stirred by the Music of Pink Martini

Pianist Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes of the globe-trotting 10-piece band Pink Martini talk with NPR's Scott Simon. The group's music can be described as a kind of world cocktail music. Hang On Little Tomato is the ensemble's latest CD.

Shaken and Stirred by the Music of Pink Martini

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Music Interviews

A Second Sip of Pink Martini

Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique, has been selling steadily, racking up a respectable 600,000 sales in the five years since its release. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports on the pressures on the band and its charismatic leader Thomas Lauderdale to avoid the sophomore curse of a second release that doesn't live up to the first.

A Second Sip of Pink Martini

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Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

Pink Martini performs on Mountain Stage. Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage hide caption

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Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage

Mountain Stage

Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

The "little orchestra" brings its playful, globally minded tunes to a live concert in West Virginia.

Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

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Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

Pink Martini performed on Mountain Stage back in 2005. Brian Blauser hide caption

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Brian Blauser

Mountain Stage

Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

In this episode of Mountain Stage, we revisit the baroque-pop band's performance from June 2005, the group's first show in West Virginia.

Pink Martini On Mountain Stage

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Pink Martini: International Spice On The Traditional Egg Nog

Pianist Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes say the members of Pink Martini sat down and wrote a list of their favorite holiday songs before they began writing their new album, Joy To The World. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Pink Martini: International Spice On The Traditional Egg Nog

Stores may have just begun to hang holly, but the orchestral group has been in a festive spirit all year long. They've recorded a new album that explores the holiday season within a global context.

Pink Martini: International Spice On The Traditional Egg Nog

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