Music News : NPR

Jazz Fests Boost Musicians, Fans, Local Economies

August 30, 2007 • Since the very first jazz festival — at Newport, R.I., in 1954 — the events have been high-profile showcases for musicians. But they can also be important economic engines for the communities that host them.

Jazz Fests Boost Musicians, Fans, Local Economies

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Music Offers View of a Changing Spain

August 21, 2007 • Spain has a great, deep history, but much of its music is largely unknown globally. There's flamenco, of course, but that's only one facet in a more complex picture — a picture that's slowly changing.

Music Offers View of a Changing Spain

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Ace Accordion Players Compete

August 17, 2007 • Accordions get their due as some of the world's top players face off in the final rounds of the Coupe Mondiale taking place outside Washington, D.C. The prestigious event features about 80 competitors from Europe, China and New Zealand as well as the U.S.

Ace Accordion Players Compete

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China's Latest Export: Anti-Establishment Music

August 17, 2007 • For Chinese indie band Rebuilding the Rights of Statues, the art of making anti-establishment music in a non-democratic state is all in the translation. For example, the band translated the title of its song "Hang the Police" as "the police are laughing."

China's Latest Export: Anti-Establishment Music

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Pioneering Jazz Drummer Max Roach Dies at 83

August 16, 2007 • Throughout his 60-year career, Max Roach redefined jazz drumming by dividing rhythms in new ways and creating a wide palette of colors. Always the innovator, he extended possibilities for drummers, and helped develop modern jazz.

Pioneering Jazz Drummer Max Roach Dies at 83

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A Culture of Song in India's Tamil Nadu

August 7, 2007 • The streets of the Tamil Nadu province in South India are filled with song. Popular radio shows spotlight ordinary people singing the latest film music live on air and miniature recording studios offer a chance for untrained singers to sound like stars.

A Culture of Song in India's Tamil Nadu

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Uneasy Ties Bind Music Companies, Music Blogs

July 28, 2007 • Record labels usually frown on fans sharing music for free online, but tolerate MP3, or music, blogs. These fan-run sites have proven effective in breaking unknown indie bands. But it's a relationship that is still rocky at times.

Uneasy Ties Bind Music Companies, Music Blogs

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Prince Releases 'Planet Earth' CD

July 24, 2007 • Prince caused a stir in the U.K. recently when he gave away nearly 3 million copies of his new album, Planet Earth, with a British newspaper. The album is now being released in the U.S.

Prince Releases 'Planet Earth' CD

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Compact Disc Giveaway Sparks Fury in Britain

July 13, 2007 • This weekend in Britain the Daily Mail newspaper will include a free copy of the new compact disc by Prince with the purchase of every paper. That has infuriated retailers, who say such giveaways are only reinforcing the belief that recorded music has no value.

Compact Disc Giveaway Sparks Fury in Britain

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Wizard Rock: Harry Potter Goes Punk

July 13, 2007 • As the world awaits the last book in the Harry Potter series, several artists have used the Hogwarts characters as inspiration for a different genre: punk rock. The genre started with two Boston-based brothers who make up the group Harry and the Potters.

Wizard Rock: Harry Potter Goes Punk

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Would You Like Some New Music with Your Latte?

July 10, 2007 • Today, music distribution venues include the Internet, television ads, video games, and even Starbucks. Guests discuss how musicians are marketing their music, and where consumers are discovering new tunes.

Listen to this 'Talk of the Nation' topic

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Deborah Cox Takes on Dinah Washington

July 5, 2007 • Singer Deborah Cox's new album, Destination Moon, pays tribute to the late jazz singer Dinah Washington. She talks about her leap from R&B to jazz.

Deborah Cox Takes on Dinah Washington

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Soprano Beverly Sills: A Silvery Voice, Silenced at 78

July 2, 2007 • Beverly Sills, the soprano known for her silvery voice and her irrepressible personality, has died of cancer at age 78. She was remembered for creating a uniquely American heroine — and for her second career as a successful and media-savvy arts administrator and advocate.

Soprano Beverly Sills: A Silvery Voice, Silenced at 78

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Ben Sidran, 'Talking Jazz' with the Masters

June 30, 2007 • Ben Sidran's latest release is a whopping 24-CD box set — and not a second of it features any actual music. Hear the jazz pianist and former NPR host speak about his new compilation of interviews with luminaries of the jazz world.

Ben Sidran, 'Talking Jazz' with the Masters

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Does Violent Music Beget Violence?

June 25, 2007 • Spelman College professor William Jelani Cobb and Loyola Marymount University visiting professor Michael Datcher discuss whether the violence in rap simply mirrors a mean-street reality or if it helped create it.

Does Violent Music Beget Violence?

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