NPR Music Celebrates Black History Month

Plus, an 'All Songs Considered' interview with Elvis Costello.

View this email online Feb. 5, 2022 by Marissa Lorusso This week, we're sharing our plans for celebrating Black History Month at the Tiny Desk — plus, a career-spanning conversation with Elvis Costello. NPR Black History Month is a big deal at the Tiny Desk. This year, we’re celebrating with a series of Tiny Desk (home) concerts featuring legends in the world of R&B, jazz, gospel and hip-hop. My colleague Bobby Carter is producing the series, and described it this way: “For this year's celebration of Black History Month, we delve deeper into the true history of music and culture. Each of our five Tiny Desk home concerts is by an artist who has helped define Black music as we know it today.” We kicked off the series on Friday with a Tiny Desk (home) concert from R&B royalty El DeBarge from his cozy home studio. And later this month, we’ll have new Tiny Desk playlists: one curated by American forager and cook Alexis Nikole Nelson, and another by a star of last year's Black History Month Tiny Desk celebration, Kirk Franklin. The Tiny Desk team will also be sharing a new series called “Black History Is Everywhere,” featuring conversations between pop culture icons and cultural experts. Black composers are taking the spotlight on the NPR Classical playlist this month, too. First up: the vibrant music of Jessie Montgomery, including chamber and orchestral works. Next week, frequent NPR Music contributor Lara Downes will curate a playlist called Black Voices in American Music. And all month, Jazz Night in America will be curating episodes that touch on social justice and empowerment and showcase a wide variety of music including big band, spoken word and gospel. Newsletter continues after sponsor message New Music If you, like so many of us, are feeling too much, Mitski's music can help, writes critic Ann Powers. On her sixth album, Laurel Hell — her first after a pronounced break — Mitski embraces emotional dysregulation, and her clarity is remarkable. Cate Le Bon makes music that finds meaning in the abstract and nonsensical. On Pompeii, her new record, she relies on imagery that’s antique and opulent, writing songs that burst and bloom rather than following straightforward narratives. Our friends at Jazz Night in America recently shared the first edition of On the List, a new monthly playlist highlighting the staff's favorite recent jazz releases, from traditional tunes to avant-garde adventures to electronic experiments. This week on New Music Friday from All Songs Considered: 2 Chainz’s final trap album and a return to form for Animal Collective, plus more great new releases out Feb. 4. Featuring Miguel Otárola is a climate and environment reporter at Colorado Public Radio, and this winter, wildfires brought the reality of climate change to his backyard. Overwhelmed by the destruction, he found that one recent release helped him make sense of it: an EP by the icy British producer Burial. This week on All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen hosts a career-spanning conversation with Elvis Costello about his new album, The Boy Named If, and his life in music – from his earliest childhood memories to the artists who shaped his work and what his own songs have meant to others. This week, our friends at World Cafe shared a video of Big Freedia performing a set with 2017 Tiny Desk Contest winner Tank and the Bangas. Over the last couple of years, musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks – among many others – have sold their extensive songwriting catalogs for enormous amounts of money. On an episode of The Indicator from Planet Money, NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas talks about what's behind all these blockbuster sales. Tiny Desk NPR When Tiny Desk producer Bobby Carter first started talking to R&B singer Amber Mark about performing a Tiny Desk (home) concert, she already had a concept figured out: She’d perform in the restaurant above which she’s lived since high school, with her family watching. "We'll make it beautiful,” she said. And she delivered, with a four-song set that includes selections from her new album Three Dimensions Deep. Also this week: We shared a (home) concert from Tori Amos, shot in her state-of-the-art home studio, and one from esteemed Malian singer, songwriter and actress Fatoumata Diawara.  Plus: The Tiny Desk Contest — NPR Music’s annual search for the next great undiscovered artist to play a Tiny Desk concert — is back. If you are (or you know) an unsigned musician who has always wanted to play behind Bob Boilen’s desk, you can learn all the details on the Contest website. One More Thing Nature’s best DJ. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Books, Pop Culture, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to NPR Music emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy