| We here at NPR Music believe that shared songs can inspire us, unite us and move us in profound – even spiritual – ways. A few weeks ago, we reached a grim milestone: More than 500,000 people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19 since the pandemic began just over a year ago. In memory of them, NPR asked listeners to help us learn about loved ones they’ve lost through the music they loved. We shared many of these tributes in a project called Songs of Remembrance. Listeners wrote in with appreciations from across genres and decades: memories of singing Janis Joplin’s “Me And Bobby McGee” with a cousin; how Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” gave one single dad hope; a tribute to a first-generation Indian American who loved the hits of his homeland. John Prine’s cousin shared a reflection on the final song released by the iconic songwriter; another listener wrote about how listening to Marta Sanchez makes her feel closer to her late uncle. These moving tributes illuminate the personal toll that the pandemic has taken on so many families and the way that music can help us remember and heal. |
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| - For Women’s History Month, women composers take the spotlight on the NPR Classical playlist. The monthlong focus begins with the compelling music of Jennifer Higdon, including Blue Cathedral, the viola concerto, a piano trio and a song for solo trumpet.
- While Kat Edmonson was working on a track for the Morning Edition Song Project, the singer-songwriter's mother fell ill and underwent a major surgery – just a few days before a storm ravaged Texas, where she lives. The experience of trying to assist and comfort her mother from afar inspired her contribution, “If You’re Scared.”
- Every month, we ask the extended NPR Music family: What’s the very best song or album you heard this month? Our February picks included rock albums from Aaron Lee Tasjan, Wild Pink and Black Country, New Road, plus standout tracks from New Zealand folk singer Maxine Funke and Nigerian-American sisters Ivana and Jessica Nwokike, aka VanJess.
- This week on New Music Friday from All Songs Considered: head-spinning wordplay and startling production from Kenny Beats and Denzel Curry; potent pop from Ian Sweet; shape-shifting hip-hop from Genesis Owusu and more great albums out March 5.
- From NPR Live Sessions: Watch Taiwainese jazz vibraphonist, arranger and composer Chien Chien Lu perform “The Path” with her quartet from WRTI’s performance space.
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- This week, Bunny Wailer — singer, songwriter and percussionist and an icon of reggae music — died in Kingston, Jamaica. He was a founding member of The Wailers, alongside Bob Marley and Peter Tosh; after leaving the group in 1974, he cultivated a distinguished solo career.
- Pianist Helen Sung had a somewhat unconventional path to life in modern jazz: studying classical music until her mid-20s, when she took a leap of faith into improvised music. Jazz Night In America shared a performance by Sung with her quartet, featuring tunes by (and for) Thelonious Monk.
- This week, KCRW shared a Lockdown Listening playlist from bassist, producer and songwriter Thundercat, including a song he says “turned my whole entire life around.”
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Filmed in his tree-lined studio in Reykjavík, Iceland, Ólafur Arnalds’ Tiny Desk (home) concert brings the past and the future together thanks to his use of an Edison "Fireside" cylinder phonograph and his own Stratus music software.
Also this week: Jack Harlow, a Louisville rap superstar in the making, performs six songs from his debut album with the confidence of an old pro in his Tiny Desk (home) concert. |
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