Search results for

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, stars of the hit 2007 movie Once, recently sat down with NPR's Melissa Block. Now performing as The Swell Season, they discuss their new album (Strict Joy), perform two songs and surprise each other with new revelations about a song's meaning.

Musicians Johan Karlberg and Etienne Tron first met Malawi-born Esau Mwamwaya running a junk shop outside their studio. The two were eager to befriend Mwamwaya, in part because they thought he was an African drummer. Turns out, he was much more. The three have formed a group called The Very Best and released Warm Heart of Africa in October.

The centuries-old rhythm of Cumbia music evolved from African slaves and indigenous Colombians. But mutant strains of the genre have permeated the music scene in Los Angeles, from immigrant cantinas to Hollywood clubs.

The Oklahoma-based rockers have been steadily mining new sonic territory for over a quarter-century — a trend that continues on their new album. Front man Wayne Coyne discusses the release, plus a very naked music video and a forthcoming homage to Pink Floyd.

In honor of Miles Davis' 50th-anniversary Kind of Blue reissue, music writer Ashley Kahn looks at a few of the stories behind the scenes of the legendary recording sessions.

Richie Havens is the man who opened Woodstock, and he hasn't stopped performing or inspiring ever since. Here, the legendary folk singer and guitarist discusses his new album, Nobody Left to Crown.

News from Somalia usually involves violent warlords or pirates hijacking ships off the coast. Other than that, average Somalis don't have much of a voice. The rapper K'Naan is trying to change that, and in the world of hip-hop, he's become an artist to watch.

Alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, son of Indian immigrants, says he didn't think about his ethnic identity growing up. But on his new album Kinsmen, he and other like-minded South Asian American jazz musicians, fuse American jazz with a global sound that embraces the music of India.

For her new recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, Mutter traveled to the composer's old stomping ground in Leipzig, Germany, to the site where the concerto had its premiere in 1845.

In the early 1960s, an argumentative duo of outsider musicians developed a psychedelic breed of folk music and found a small but dedicated following. The Holy Modal Rounders' members are now inspiring a new generation of innovative folkies, as well as a new documentary.