Music

The Mekons are first-generation British punk rockers who've moved through an array of genres over the decades. Their most recent album was recorded in a studio just outside Joshua Tree National Park.

Group chemistry and deft composing make Harrell's new album a polished, inventive album that's worth checking out. Critic Kevin Whitehead says it's "really, really good."

The 17-year-old California singer-songwriter's album, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? keeps listeners guessing. Her frame of reference is vast — ranging from glam rock to folk music.

Ever since he was a little boy, Yannick Nézet-Séguin knew he wanted to be a conductor. He likens the feeling to something "almost like a religious call." "Making music in the group is what animates me," he says.
Now 44, Nézet-Séguin is the music director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra, two of America's most storied musical institutions.

Carter had a late-career renaissance when she performed for New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1992. Critic Kevin Whitehead says the recording showcases how much feeling Carter put in her singing.

The former co-leader of the Aussie band The Go-Betweens reflects on success and failure on his latest solo album. Critic Ken Tucker says Inferno is proof of Forster's credentials as a pop musician.

Dale told Fresh Air in 1993 that his distinctive guitar style came, in part, from the ocean waves he surfed: "The waves did create my feelings of that sound." Dale died March 16.

Blanton makes folk-based music that prizes wordplay and has an antic sense of humor. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the personal is always political on her new album.

Both Lennie Tristano and Herbie Nichols were active on the New York scene in the 1950s. Though worlds apart stylistically, their music demonstrates how the piano accommodates myriad personalities.

Deveau and the Borromeo String Quartet perform piano concertos by Mozart and Beethoven as chamber music on a new recording. Lloyd Schwartz says the album is "full of feeling and discovery."

Blaine, who died Monday, recorded with Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and many others . Originally broadcast in 2001.

Richards is a musician who's attuned to her instrument's idiosyncrasies and pet sounds. On her new album, she's helped along by the collective sound environment created by her quartet.

The country star's latest album proves Morris isn't long for the country genre — she's a pop singer with an affinity for rhythm & blues, and she's not holding back.

Miller's band, the sextet Boom Tic Boom, keep good time — and appear to have a good time — on their new album. "You can hear how much her crew enjoy playing this music," critic Kevin Whitehead says.

Fifty-seven years ago, Charles released two albums that helped extend the reach of country music. Though initially perceived as a novelty, a re-release of the albums proves they were anything but.

Lee, one of the premier singers of new jazz, mixes it up with pianist Blake on a newly reissued two-CD set featuring standards and straight-up jazz tunes the two recorded in Belgium in 1966 and '67.

The Unseen In Between, by instrumentalist-turned-singer-songwriter Gunn, and True North, by veteran folk musician Chapman, both use the guitar to explore the mysteries of life.

Critic Ken Tucker picks three new hip-hop singles he has on heavy rotation: 21 Savage's fatalistic "A Lot," Lizzo's cheerful "Juice" and Lil Peep's melancholy "I've Been Waiting."

A 50-year old album by pianist Oscar Peterson and a studio orchestra has been reissued by the German label MPS. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead confesses to having mixed feelings about it.

Composer Nicholas Britell says he wants his scores to help people lose themselves in films. He's scored the films 'If Beale Street Could Talk,' 'Moonlight,' and 'Vice.' Before becoming a composer Britell wanted to be a classical concert pianist, and he studied the neuropsychology of music at Harvard.