Tom Cole
Tom Cole is a senior editor on NPR's Arts Desk. He develops, edits, produces, and reports on stories about art, culture, music, film, and theater for NPR's news magazines Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, and All Things Considered. Cole has held these responsibilities since February 1990.
Prior to his work with the Arts Desk, Cole worked for three and a half years as an associate producer for NPR's daily classical music program Performance Today, and also for Morning Edition, where he coordinated, edited, and produced arts and culture stories.
From April 1979 to July 1986, Cole worked for NPR Member station WAMU-FM in Washington, DC. He was the production manager for the daily operation of studios, and also served as a reporter, writing and producing music features that were broadcast locally and nationally. In addition, from October 1985 to November 1986, Cole worked for Voice of America as a producer for VOA Europe.
Since 1977, Cole has been the host and producer of a weekly three-hour program of music and interviews broadcast on public radio station WPFW-FM in Washington.
Over the course of his career, Cole has produced or collaborated on a number of public radio projects. He co-edited the Peabody Award-winning NPR documentary, "I Must Keep Fightin': The Art of Paul Robeson." He was also an advisor, contributor, and co-editor of the Peabody Award-winning series, "The NPR 100," the top 100 songs of the 20th century.
A native of Washington, DC, Cole has studied classical guitar at The American University and privately. He also studied comparative literature at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.
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"Prepared" guitar virtuoso explains the process behind a composition that is also a gift to her listeners. -
Jazz guitarist returns to the sound of his straight-ahead quartet with Joe Lovano, on tunes documenting his son's battle with cancer. -
The great bluesman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and toured relentlessly his whole life, wringing peerless emotion out of every note he played. -
The longtime piano accompanist and musical director accidentally broke the hit "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." But he was also the driving force behind the style Bennett is best known for.
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The guitarist said he didn't "really have all that much technique anyway," but it was clearly enough to influence half a century of jazz musicians. Peers and proteges like Sonny Rollins, Julian Lage and John Scofield reflect on one of the finest ever on his instrument. -
Though mainly a jazz player, wrote the surf guitar anthem "Walk, Don't Run," which became a Top 10 hit for The Ventures on two occasions. -
The composer, who was born in 1908 and won two Pulitzer Prizes for music that could be challenging and adventurously modern, died in New York.
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The great British guitarist returns after a 12-year hiatus with the entrancing "Palermo Snow." The song's Arabic/Mediterranean sound evokes the tune's inspiration: a rare snowfall in Palermo, Sicily, when Renbourn was there for a concert. -
At the record store, Tom Cole spent most of his time warding off scornful looks as he toted Mothers of Invention LPs around. One day, he decided he needed to learn about jazz. A clerk at Discount Records and Books in Washington, D.C., suggested these five records. No standards; just his absolute favorites. -
Influential jazz saxophonist Steve Lacy died Friday of cancer at age 69, ending a career that was noticed by both John Coltrane and the MacArthur Genius Awards. Hear NPR's Tom Cole.
