Jan 5th, 2009 · We start the new year with a new mix, featuring an exclusive preview of Andrew Bird's latest album, Noble Beast. The classically trained violinist and singer performs a quirky mix of whistled melodies, Gypsy ballads, folk and art-rock. We've got the song "Oh No" here, but you can also hear the entire album as part of our "first listen" series. Also on the show: classic folk-rock singer Benjy Ferree, the Afro-funk rhythms of Chopteeth, an eclectic mixtape from Malawi-born singer Esau Mwamwaya, the haunting guitars of Begushkin, and the jazz trio Bad Plus covers the music of Pink Floyd.
Keywords: whistle · music · Africans · Jazz · Singer · Malawi · songs · Preview · album · folk · melodies · trio
Dec 23rd, 2008 · Bird is a classically trained violinist and former swing-jazz musician whose sonic palette includes a quirky mix of Gypsy ballads, jazz, folk and whistled melodies. It's a sound that leaves critics swooning and fans giddy with the kind of devotion normally reserved for pop idols. On Jan. 20, 2009, the singer will release his fifth full-length studio album. Hear Noble Beast in its entirety here, exclusively on NPR Music.
Keywords: whistle · music · Jazz · Singer · NPR Music · entirety · album · folk · studio · melodies · 2009 · beast
Dec 3rd, 2008 · Folksinging legend Odetta has died. She was 77. Her ballads and songs became, for many, the sound track to the American civil rights movement.
Keywords: Americans · civil · movement · songs · legend · folk · Odetta · ballads · folksinger
Nov 21st, 2008 · Guitarist Mimi Fox is a rising star, invigorating the jazz guitar tradition. With an amazing set of chops and a crystal pure tone, Fox cooks whether playing bebop or ballads. She plays an original and tears it up on a Cole Porter tune with McPartland and bassist Gary Mazzaroppi.
Keywords: Traditional · original · Jazz · guitar · crystal · bassist · ballads · amazing · Mimi · Cole Porter · McPartland · invigorated
Nov 19th, 2008 · The Los Angeles-based dream-pop duo Devics has enchanted fans for years with its beautifully dark and moody music, but there's hardly been a peep from the band since its 2007 album, Push the Heart. Thankfully, singer Sara Lov has just released a solo EP, The Young Eyes, which features gorgeous ballads, setting her flawless voice over melancholic piano and strings.
Keywords: York · Los Angeles · 2007 · music · Singer · duo · album · Loving · gorgeous · ballads · enchant · Sara
Nov 19th, 2008 · From the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, a gifted flutist embraces a Swiss ballade, a 16-year-old violinist tosses off a devilish sonata and a 14-year-old pianist tackles Liszt's Mephisto Waltz.
Keywords: Colorado · schools · Swiss · Teen · pianist · Violinist · sonata · ballads · Rockies · Aspen Music Festival · Liszt · flutist
Oct 30th, 2008 · Singer-songwriter Ellis Paul has released 14 albums in a career spanning two decades, including his recent Dragonfly Races. In his latest appearance on Mountain Stage, Paul performs selections from a record due out early next year, as well as a ballad about Hurricane Katrina survivors.
Keywords: Hurricane Katrina · mountains · Survivors · Singer · Paul · songwriter · album · Ellis · ballads · racing · emMountain · Ellis Paul
Sep 26th, 2008 · Australian singer Nick Cave and and his band, the Bad Seeds, are best known for angry, twisted, ballad-like lyrics. Their 2008 album, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, was inspired, in part, by the Biblical story of Lazarus. It is Cave's 14th studio album.
Keywords: Singer · 2008 · songwriter · Australian · biblical · album · studio · intricate · ballads · Nick Cave · Lazarus · Bad Seeds
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