Sep 2nd, 2008 · With an innovative repertoire and creative musical arrangements, the five brass players of the Meridian Arts Ensemble have redefined the boundaries of the traditionally stodgy brass quintet in music that ranges from J.S. Bach to Frank Zappa.
Sep 2nd, 2008 · Jazz legend Wynton Marsalis says that music is the "art of the invisible" — it is memory, intention and imagination. Marsalis explains his relationship to jazz in his new book, Moving to Higher Ground, and talks about how music changed his life.
Sep 2nd, 2008 · Were the 1980s the worst years for music? NPR listeners seem to think so, according the results of our poll. When asked to pick the best year for music, nearly everyone skipped the '80s entirely. On this edition of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen looks back at the decade of synth pop, hair metal, and hardcore with Stephen Thompson, editor of Song of the Day, Robin Hilton, All Songs Considered producer and host of Second Stage, and Carrie Brownstein, writer for the Monitor Mix blog.
Sep 2nd, 2008 · Soul may be a full-fledged style of music or just a flavor, but whether you like it straight-up or blended with other music and innovations, there's a sense that soul is always going to be part of the mix. Newcomers Sharon Jones and Eli "Paperboy" Reed share their thoughts.
Sep 1st, 2008 · As part of "California Dreamin'," Day to Day's series of stories about the state of the California dream, the show asked listeners to submit their favorite West Coast songs. Here are five of their picks. They weren't all written in praise of the Golden State, but this is the music that reminds Californians of home.
Aug 31st, 2008 · Sunday night, one of the biggest phenomena in pop music reunites for the eighth BMI Urban Awards. Four of the five original members of the Jackson 5 (Jackie, Tito, Marlon and Jermaine Jackson) are all scheduled to appear at the Wilshire Theatre. Michael Jackson has not yet confirmed an appearance.
Aug 30th, 2008 · Visual artists Fernanda Viegas and Martin Wattenberg see, and hear, the beauty in the human body. They've analyzed roughly 10,000 songs in many genres of music, and they've created a catalog titled Listen, which illustrates how the human form inspires, amuses or repulses musicians.
Aug 29th, 2008 · Downtown St. Paul has been getting a facelift ahead of the Republican National Convention. This means filling vacant storefronts with high-end retailers on short term leases, recruiting street musicians though they're normally banned, bolting down trash bins and planters. There're even spray-painting the leaves green and feeding birth control to the pigeons.