Music

January 23, 2022 - 12:41pm

Read full article: Don Wilson, cofounder of the instrumental guitar group The Ventures, dies at age 88

TACOMA, Wash. — Don Wilson, co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the instrumental guitar band The Ventures, has died.

He was 88.

Wilson died Saturday in Tacoma of natural causes, surrounded by his four children, The News Tribune reported.

The band's hits included "Walk, Don't Run," and...

Tom Smith, founding member of noise band To Live and Shave in L.A., has died at 65

January 22, 2022 - 1:13pm

Tom Smith, a relentless musical experimenter and prominent figure in the international noise scene for decades, died on Jan. 20 in Hanover, Germany. He was 65. His partner, Claudia Franke, confirmed to NPR that the cause was colon cancer.

As word of Smith's passing spread, friends and colleagues —...

Opinion: Sea shanties written for the digital age

January 22, 2022 - 8:24am

A lot of us have spent more time than ever in front of screens these past, oh, 22 months. And some us have had to cry for help occasionally.

Information technology workers may be today's seafarers over oceans of encoded information. Vital, but often anonymous voices. Essential, but often...

The cuatro players of C4 Trio are the future of Venezuela's national instrument

January 22, 2022 - 7:02am

The Venezuelan group C4 Trio has taken the national instrument of their homeland, the four-string cuatro, to new heights. They've recorded seven albums, collaborated with singer Rubén Blades and, in 2019, won two Latin Grammys for their album with salsa singer Luis Enrique, Tiempo al Tiempo.

The title of...

From hairdresser to L.A. lounge icon, Marty Roberts is remembered as a musical idol

January 22, 2022 - 4:00am

The jazz and lounge music world has lost one of its most iconic personalities. Marty Roberts — one half of the married lounge act "Marty & Elayne" died last week, at 89.

For decades, the duo performed five to six nights a week — Marty on drums and vocals,...

Chris Pierce on Mountain Stage

January 21, 2022 - 11:14am

Blessed with a soaring, church-built vocal range that's often compared to Ray Charles, Chris Pierce has been all over the scene for the past 15 years. Discovered by Seal while attending USC, the indie, folk and blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has kept the rubber hot, touring 150 days a year...

World Cafe 30th Anniversary Playlist: 2004

January 21, 2022 - 10:44am

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of World Cafe, we're looking back and posting playlists from each year of the show. As music has evolved over the years, so have our playlists, which have grown to reflect a much wider range of music than when we first set out....

The artists who inspired Finneas' debut solo album 'Optimist' may surprise you

January 21, 2022 - 10:34am

When I sat down to talk with Billie Eilish, she said this about her producer, co-writer and brother, Finneas: "When I think about it, it just makes me so grateful — that my literal job, I get to do with my brother, who is also my best friend. It's...

Simply Superior, January 21, 2022

January 21, 2022 - 10:00am

Laura Judd of the Twin Ports APIDA Collective views an origami installation in the group's "Like Me, Like You" exhibit, now showing at the Duluth Art Institute. WPR/ Robin Washington.

This week on “Simply Superior,” we learn about a multimedia exhibit sharing Twin Ports Asian American experiences. For more than a decade, an informal group of Twin Ports Asian American women met in each other’s homes for food and social activities. They took on a more activist role, however, after the horrific killings of eight Asian American women in Atlanta last year. Now called the Twin Ports Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Collective, the group has created “Like Me, Like You,” a multimedia exhibit at the Duluth Art Institute to bring understanding of the Asian American experience to the larger community. Members Sharon Yung and Laura Judd discuss their art and advocacy with program host Robin Washington.

Also, Michael “Laughing Fox” Charette of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa joins WPR’s Rick Reyer to share his storytelling and hauntingly beautiful flute and drum music.

🌍 #1439 January 22, 2022 Live

January 21, 2022 - 10:00am

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John Mellencamp reflects on a world estranged on new album 'Strictly a One-Eyed Jack'

January 21, 2022 - 4:00am

John Mellencamp's music has captured the moods of several eras — and at the start of 2022, his new album dwells on loneliness and lying.

The songs on Strictly a One-eyed Jack are narrated by a character whose soul seems as battered as Mellencamp's cigarette-darkened voice. When we...

Meat Loaf, Grammy-winning singer famous for 'I'd Do Anything For Love,' dies at 74

January 21, 2022 - 2:32am

Meat Loaf, the Grammy-winning American singer and actor, has died at the age of 74. An official announcement was posted to his Facebook page early Friday morning.

Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, was best known for the 1977 album Bat Out Of Hell, one of the best...

Adele postpones Vegas show in tearful post, saying half of her team is out with COVID

January 20, 2022 - 7:57pm

British singer Adele announced Thursday the postponement of her Las Vegas residency due to COVID-related issues — just one day before it was slated to begin.

"I'm so sorry, but my show ain't ready. We've tried absolutely everything that we can to put it together in time, and...

Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: Al Bilali Soudan, Kiran Ahluwalia, Tufan Derince

January 20, 2022 - 3:11pm

For the second consecutive year, NPR teams up with globalFEST for a thrilling online music festival we call Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: three nights, nine bands, and a world of musical traditions beamed into your living room.

Every January, I attend globalFEST at a New York City nightclub...

Bobby McFerrin reflects on going from the hotel bar to prescribing 'medicine music'

January 20, 2022 - 12:33pm

Bobby McFerrin was onto something when he titled his second album The Voice. At the time, in the mid-1980s, it was a sobriquet more readily associated with Frank Sinatra — but in its definitive clarity, loaded with implications, no term could have been better suited to his art. McFerrin made...

Sierra Ferrell seems to have always known where she was headed

January 20, 2022 - 11:18am

Sierra Ferrell is a what you might call a free spirit — someone who follows her dreams wherever they take her; like when she joined a troupe of wandering musicians in her 20s. On the other hand, Ferrell seems to have always known where she was going.

She...

Tabla player Badal Roy, known for his cutting-edge jazz collaborations, dies at 82

January 20, 2022 - 11:03am

Badal Roy, a tabla player who worked with both Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman as they explored trailblazing electric sounds, died on January 18. He was 82. His death was confirmed to NPR by his niece, Piali Roy.

In 1968 Roy moved from East Pakistan to New York City,...

Spectrum West, January 20, 2022

January 20, 2022 - 10:00am

Poet, Pablo Center, Special Ed Fundraising Auction, New Book– On “Spectrum West” this week, host Al Ross visits with Todd Boss, a poet 0and native of rural Fall Creek. The show also features interviews with the executive director of the Pablo Center at the Confluence in Eau Claire, a special education teacher in the Eau Claire school district and an Altoona-based metal sculptor.

Pedro the Lion's David Bazan in conversation with Hanif Abdurraqib

January 20, 2022 - 5:18am

Updated January 20, 2022 at 3:22 PM ET

The secret's out! Pedro the Lion has surprise-dropped Havasu. You can watch a conversation between poet, author and MacArthur Fellowship award winner Hanif Abdurraqib and singer-songwriter David Bazan.

Havasu is a follow-up to 2019's Phoenix, part...

Increasing awareness and access to Latin American classical music

January 19, 2022 - 4:15pm

Natali Herera-Pacheco (left) and Horacio Contreras (right) of SOLA

We talk with two Appleton musicians who run a project that's raising the profiles of Latin American composers, and helping catalog and disseminate their music around the globe.

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Don Wilson, cofounder of the instrumental guitar group The Ventures, dies at age 88

Tom Smith, founding member of noise band To Live and Shave in L.A., has died at 65

Opinion: Sea shanties written for the digital age

The cuatro players of C4 Trio are the future of Venezuela's national instrument

From hairdresser to L.A. lounge icon, Marty Roberts is remembered as a musical idol

Chris Pierce on Mountain Stage

World Cafe 30th Anniversary Playlist: 2004

The artists who inspired Finneas' debut solo album 'Optimist' may surprise you

Simply Superior, January 21, 2022

🌍 #1439 January 22, 2022 Live

John Mellencamp reflects on a world estranged on new album 'Strictly a One-Eyed Jack'

Meat Loaf, Grammy-winning singer famous for 'I'd Do Anything For Love,' dies at 74

Adele postpones Vegas show in tearful post, saying half of her team is out with COVID

Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST: Al Bilali Soudan, Kiran Ahluwalia, Tufan Derince

Bobby McFerrin reflects on going from the hotel bar to prescribing 'medicine music'

Sierra Ferrell seems to have always known where she was headed

Tabla player Badal Roy, known for his cutting-edge jazz collaborations, dies at 82

Spectrum West, January 20, 2022

Pedro the Lion's David Bazan in conversation with Hanif Abdurraqib

Increasing awareness and access to Latin American classical music

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