Oct 13 American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize in literature By Larisa Epatko He’s gotten a presidential honor and performed for a pope. Now musician Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize in literature. Continue reading
Oct 11 Watch 6:14 How a composer's joke melodies became his unexpected legacy By PBS News Hour Composer Camille Saint-Saëns would have celebrated his 181st birthday on Sunday. During his lifetime, he was one of the world’s most famous composers. Today he is best known for his “Carnival of the Animals,” a legacy he would have found… Continue watching
Sep 29 Watch 6:19 This DJ mixes the world's local music to create a global sound By PBS News Hour Jace Clayton, aka DJ/rupture, spends his time traveling, absorbing music as well as creating it. To create his art, he mixes various melodies and rhythms from all over the world in order to create new, complex sounds. Jeffrey Brown speaks… Continue watching
Sep 26 Watch 6:17 The musical rumble that makes listeners love 'West Side Story' By PBS News Hour On this day nearly six decades ago, “West Side Story” premiered on Broadway. And the music of the Sharks and the Jets, and star-crossed lovers Tony and Maria is as vibrant as it was in 1957. Jeffrey Brown sits down… Continue watching
Sep 06 Mumbai meets Muddy Waters in a bluesy tribute to Bollywood By Kelly Whalen San Jose bluesman Aki Kumar has just released an album that combines old songs from Indian blockbuster films of his childhood with Chicago-style blues. Continue reading
Aug 30 Column: A trans singer makes a 'most precious' sacrifice By David Kroman, Crosscut.com For Julian Morris, music and song writing has been a refuge as he's struggled with his sexual identity. He knew once he started taking hormones to transition to a male body, his voice would change. Making the decision to give… Continue reading
Aug 22 For Hayes Carll, it's 'all for the sake of the song' By Mike Fritz Hayes Carll has come a long way since his days of playing for brawling shrimpers in Texas. His latest album, "Lovers and Leavers," uses the loss of love (a recent divorce) and love for his son as motivation for lyrics that are… Continue reading
Aug 11 Here are Obama's top songs of the summer By Associated Press The president dropped a playlist on Twitter. Chance the Rapper, Prince, the Beach Boys and Billie Holiday all made the cut. Continue reading
Aug 08 Watch 6:35 3 solo artists describe the 'excellent exercise' of musical collaboration By PBS News Hour hey were used to being in charge of their own voices, their own lyrics, their own paths. But recently, singers Neko Case, K.D. Lang and Laura Veirs put autonomy aside to form a single group. The goal was to create… Continue watching
Jul 13 Culture, not biology, decides the difference between music and noise By Lora Strum A new study shows only cultures previously exposed to western music form opinions on consonance and dissonance, an element of music theory that establishes consonant chords as more aurally pleasing… Continue reading