Search results for

For more than half a century, jazz musicians have collaborated with Indian classical musicians with frequently remarkable results. From Ravi Shankar and Bud Shank to Don Cherry's Codona, here are five works that engage jazz improvisation and Indian ragas.

The Estonian composer's evocative music has opened a window into a world of spiritual ideals and aspirations, and attracted many fans along the way. Hear Cantique, the new CD of Pärt's music, in its entirety.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, we've got select highlights from the First Listen Series, plus a look back at the recent All Tomorrow's Parties music festival.

The young violinist's new record contains an unusual pairing of two concertos -- one warhorse and one freshly minted. They may seem like unlikely bedfellows, but the works have more in common than one might think. Hear the album in its entirety until Sept. 23.

Jazz musicians today find profound inspiration in a lot of different places, from Chicago to rural Louisiana prisons, and from old standards to biology class. Hear new music from Howard Wiley, Rebecca Martin, Henry Threadgill and the band Herculaneum.

Composer Missy Mazzoli founded the all-female ensemble Victoire to play her music. The resulting sound is hard to define, but easy to listen to. Hear the group's debut album in its entirety here until its release on Sept. 28.

This year, the 10 best blues albums feature many younger artists who play original music; their work is rooted in the blues but headed somewhere else. Some purists may be put off, but this is a fascinating moment, in which the music is evolving right in front of us. It's also a demonstration of how deeply blues has become embedded in our culture.

The Kronos Quartet's latest cross-cultural exploration finds the band collaborating with master musicians from Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Hear a myriad of fascinating Central Asian sounds on Rainbow, in its entirety, a week prior to its release.

When the Saints captured the NFC Championship two weeks ago, music roared from every neighborhood and spontaneous brass-band parades shut down streets: New Orleans rhythms exploded across the city in a way that seemed natural for celebrations of football glory. Now, you can hear 10 songs which typify the music in the New Orleans air right now.

On the surface, there might seem to be a world of difference between jazz and bluegrass music. Jazz is predominantly urban and often deals with relatively complex structures, chords and key changes. Bluegrass is predominantly rural and, like blues, often works within fairly predictable structural boundaries. But jazz and bluegrass are more alike than they appear.