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Interpreting the music of Julius Eastman, Wild Up honors the composer's vastness

What Wild Up unearths on Julius Eastman, Vol. 2: Joy Boy is more than just music, it's a set of relations and modes of comporting in the world that risk trading fleeting, worldly praise to regain the eternal soul. Ron Hammond hide caption

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Ron Hammond

Review

Editors' Picks

Interpreting the music of Julius Eastman, Wild Up honors the composer's vastness

The feat the Los Angeles group Wild Up achieves in interpreting the music of Julius Eastman is the refusal to attempt impersonation — the musicians make him their muse without fetishizing him.

Keith Jarrett's eternal balancing act

"I remember there was a river next to the hotel, or across the street. And I walked along that," Keith Jarrett says of the tour stop captured on Bordeaux Concert. "That's what I remember." Daniela Yohannes/ECM Records hide caption

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Daniela Yohannes/ECM Records

Music Interviews

Keith Jarrett's eternal balancing act

WBGO

Keith Jarrett's two strokes in 2018 left the pianist unable to perform publicly. On the occasion of Bordeaux Concert, WBGO's Nate Chinen caught up with Jarrett.

After a pandemic disruption, Newport Jazz Festival makes a poignant, euphoric return

Samara Joy performs at the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival, which spanned from July 29 to July 31, in Newport, R.I. Ozier Muhammad for NPR hide caption

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Ozier Muhammad for NPR

The Picture Show

After a pandemic disruption, Newport Jazz Festival makes a poignant, euphoric return

The festival's first full edition in two years — and its first since the death of co-founder George Wein — saw dynamic performances from Newport veterans alongside glowing debuts from newcomers.

An American in Paris: organist Rhoda Scott's remarkable career in Jazz

Rhoda Scott Alexandre Lacombe/Alexandre Lacombe hide caption

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Alexandre Lacombe/Alexandre Lacombe

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

An American in Paris: organist Rhoda Scott's remarkable career in Jazz

Jazz at Lincoln Center

Jazz Night shines a light on an American organist who moved to Europe on a whim and became a jazz superstar. Hear the remarkable story of Rhoda Scott.

An American in Paris: organist Rhoda Scott's remarkable career in Jazz

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Jazz renegade Theo Croker returns to his Jacksonville roots

Theo Croker performs at Jacksonville Jazz Festival, October 1, 2021 Kim Reed/Courtesy of Artist hide caption

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Kim Reed/Courtesy of Artist

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Jazz renegade Theo Croker returns to his Jacksonville roots

Jazz at Lincoln Center

Jazz Night hangs with trumpeter Theo Croker in Jacksonville, Fla., where he spent his teenage years, to revisit old mentors and hear a set by his band from the Jacksonville Jazz Festival.

Jazz renegade Theo Croker returns to his Jacksonville roots

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Heavy Rotation: Public Radio's Most Popular Songs of 2022 (So Far)

From left, Leyla McCalla, Saba, and Victoria Legrand of Beach House. Photo illustration: Abel F. Ros/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images, Brad Barket/Getty Images, Mike Windle/Getty Images; Vanessa Leroy for NPR hide caption

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Photo illustration: Abel F. Ros/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images, Brad Barket/Getty Images, Mike Windle/Getty Images; Vanessa Leroy for NPR

World Cafe

Heavy Rotation: Public Radio's Most Popular Songs of 2022 (So Far)

Beach House and Mitski and Spoon, oh my! Here are the tracks public radio is spinning over and over this year.

NPR Music's 36 Favorite Songs of 2022 (So Far)

Saba (left), Lizzo (center) and Rosalía have released some of our favorite songs of the year so far. Collage by Estefanía Mitre / NPR/Photos courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Collage by Estefanía Mitre / NPR/Photos courtesy of the artists

Best Music of 2022

NPR Music's 36 Favorite Songs of 2022 (So Far)

The songs we love from the first half of the year span a wide emotional and musical range, from wild percussive romps to raw pleas for empathy to Beyoncé's command to leave it all on the dance floor.

From bebop to hip-hop: Gary Bartz's sax sound shapes many eras

Gary Bartz Jonathan Chimene/WBGO hide caption

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Jonathan Chimene/WBGO

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

From bebop to hip-hop: Gary Bartz's sax sound shapes many eras

Jazz at Lincoln Center

Gary Bartz shares stories from his sixty-plus-year career, covering everything from bebop to hip-hop. Hear a heartfelt conversation between the legendary saxophonist and host Christian McBride.

From bebop to hip-hop: Gary Bartz's sax sound shapes many eras

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Trio of albums gives saxophonist Charles Lloyd the opportunity to search inward

Saxophonist Charles Lloyd, performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, Calif., on Sept. 23, 2018. Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images

Music News

Trio of albums gives saxophonist Charles Lloyd the opportunity to search inward

The saxophonist, who began his career in the '70s, has played with notable names like the Beach Boys and Cannonball Adderley. He's still flowing with music.

Trio of albums gives saxophonist Charles Lloyd the opportunity to search inward

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Songs to believe in: A Juneteenth playlist

USA. Mississippi. Tunica. 1985. © Eli Reed/Magnum Photos hide caption

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© Eli Reed/Magnum Photos

The Picture Show

Songs to believe in: A Juneteenth playlist

This Juneteenth, pianist Lara Downes remembers the freedom that has been hard fought and hard won.

Songs to believe in: A Juneteenth playlist

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For pianist Vadim Neselovskyi, Ukraine war adds urgency to his most personal work

Vadim Neselovskyi. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

Review

Music Features

For pianist Vadim Neselovskyi, Ukraine war adds urgency to his most personal work

WBGO

On a new album, Odesa, written in tribute to his father, the pianist, former child prodigy and composer also paints a portrait of the album's namesake, currently in the midst of a Russian invasion.

For pianist Vadim Neselovskyi, Ukraine war adds urgency to his most personal work

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Honoring the iconic blues and ironic humor of Mose Allison

Mose Allison Gai Terrell/Redferns hide caption

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Gai Terrell/Redferns

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Honoring the iconic blues and ironic humor of Mose Allison

Jazz at Lincoln Center

The tribute project Anything Mose! breathes new life into the music of the late Mose Allison. We peer inside his blend of blues and jazz with ironic lyrics, and get stories from Allison's widow.

Honoring the iconic blues and ironic humor of Mose Allison

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The sunshine of guitarist Cory Wong

Cory Wong at 2021 Newport Jazz Festival Adam Kissick/Newport Jazz hide caption

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Adam Kissick/Newport Jazz

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

The sunshine of guitarist Cory Wong

Jazz at Lincoln Center

Hear a funky set from guitarist Cory Wong and the Wongnotes from the main stage of the Newport Jazz Festival, plus stories from Cory about his past, process and the evolution of the Minneapolis Sound.

The sunshine of guitarist Cory Wong

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Who says big band jazz is for old people? Not this teenage composer.

Skylar Tang, a 16-year-old from the San Francisco Bay area, is the winner of the Dr. J. Douglas White Composing & Arranging Contest. John Clayton/Skylar Tang hide caption

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John Clayton/Skylar Tang

Music Features

Who says big band jazz is for old people? Not this teenage composer.

California musician Skylar Tang, 16, is the winner of a Jazz at Lincoln Center contest. She'll accept the award in New York this weekend.

Who says big band jazz is for old people? Not this teenage composer.

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Ron Carter at 85: tracks and stories from the life of a record-setting bassist

Bassist Ron Carter Jonathan Chimene/WBGO hide caption

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Jonathan Chimene/WBGO

Jazz Night In America: The Radio Program

Ron Carter at 85: tracks and stories from the life of a record-setting bassist

Jazz at Lincoln Center

To celebrate bassist Ron Carter's 85th birthday, hear a conversation with Ron and our host Christian McBride with music handpicked from Ron Carter's storied discography.

Ron Carter at 85: tracks and stories from the life of a record-setting bassist

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