A previously unreleased concert recording of Thelonious Monk from 1968 will be released next month as the album Palo Alto. Larry Fink/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
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An empty Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center, lit up in June for Pride 2020 — but with no concert attendees or theatergoers, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Courtesy of Lincoln Center hide caption
Vera Lynn, serving cups of tea to servicemen stationed in Trafalgar Square on June 4, 1942. Keystone/Getty Images hide caption
Bandcamp has pledged to donate its cut of sales made on this and every subsequent Juneteenth holiday to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Guillaume Payen/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption
The musicians on Not Our First Goat Rodeo, from left to right: Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Stuart Duncan and Edgar Meyer. Josh Goleman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The term "urban" has been used for decades as a catch-all term for Black music — but it is now quickly falling out of favor in the music industry in the midst of a growing new civil rights movement. Jasper James/Getty Images hide caption
Allison Loggins-Hull and Nathalie Joachim are two of the artists featured in the Library of Congress' Boccaccio Project, a collection of songs inspired by the coronavirus pandemic. Erin Patrice O'Brien/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
A New Library Of Congress Project Commissions Music Of The Coronavirus Pandemic
Aided by an ensemble cast of jazz musicians new and old, Lakecia Benjamin recorded the entirety of her new album 'Pursuance: The Coltranes' in two days. Elizabeth Leitzell/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The trio now known as Lady A, arriving at the Country Music Awards in April 2019. They announced the switch on social media, saying that calls for racial justice over the past several weeks have revealed their "blindspots." Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Jimmy Heath, whose album Love Letter will be released July 17, 2020. Carol Friedman/Verve Records hide caption
Jacob Ezzo, a chorus teacher from South Orange Middle School in New Jersey, has helped spearhead an effort to make face shields for those working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Anastasia Tsioulcas/NPR hide caption
Music Teacher's 'Weekend' Project Turns Into Almost 40,000 Face Shields
A man stands in front a poster advertising an "at home" streamed Coachella event in April in Hollywood, Calif. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A mural memorializes George Floyd is his hometown of Houston, where he was known as Big Floyd, and part of the city's hugely influential Screwed Up Click rap collective. Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
An oversized Grammy award on display backstage during the 62nd annual Grammy ceremony in January. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The Grammys Changed Some Categories. Will They Make Any Difference?
A crowd at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. The festival is a member of NIVA, an advocacy association of independent music venues and presenters. Douglas Mason/WireImage/Getty Images hide caption
Bonnie Pointer. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
A protest sign calling for the repeal of 50-A, photographed during a march in Brooklyn denouncing police brutality and systemic racism. Scott Heins/Getty Images hide caption
Tiny Desk Contest Top Shelf premieres June 11 at 3 p.m. ET. NPR hide caption
RTJ4 seems tailor-made for the present moment, but Run the Jewels has always made music about inequality and corruption in America. "In my mind, things are never not happening," Killer Mike says. Tim Saccenti/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Zeshan B sings like a classic soul artist, but also incorporates South Asian influences into his music. On his new album, Melismatic, he tackles social and political issues in both English and Urdu. Courtesy of the artist hide caption