Entertainment

NPR Topics: Music

Listen to new music, podcasts, live concerts and studio sessions. Watch video sessions. Read interviews with musicians and music reviews. NPR covers the best new songs from rock, pop, folk, jazz, urban, world and classical music.

Sanda Weigl Brings Gypsy Music To The U.S. Romanian singer Sanda Weigl learned traditional songs from the gypsies living around her home when she was a child. Today, she sings these songs across the U.S. as part of a Romanian cultural outreach campaign, but the singer's life remains larger than the Gypsy lore reflected in her songs. Sesame Street: The World Is A Playground Sesame Street has been around for almost 40 years and airs in 120 countries. A new CD, Sesame Street Playground, features songs and Muppets from Sesame Streets around the world. Big Bird and South Africa's Zikwe join host Scott Simon to talk about the album. The Rescues On Mountain Stage In The Rescues, three singer-songwriters' voices converge in a wash of harmony that's most commonly compared to the vocal prowess of The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Here, they showcase their pop harmonies on Mountain Stage. Brian Wilson Sings A Love Letter To California Four years after reviving and releasing his abandoned masterpiece, Smile, Wilson is back with a new album, That Lucky Old Sun. Between performances of songs from the new disc, the former Beach Boys singer shares what it was like to return to his old recording home at Capitol Records. Girl Talk Chops Pop Music To Pieces Mash-up artist Girl Talk may feature more than 300 samples on his new album, Feed the Animals, but creator Greg Gillis says that he has only 100 MP3s on his laptop. He's more interested in the bits and pieces of music, even when it's only a split second. Boston Orchestra Makes Typewriters Sing The Boston Typewriter Orchestra is a small, Monty Python-esque group that mixes original "typewriter" music with swatches of surrealist comedy. Sometimes they play their typewriters so hard that they upset the audience. Marian McPartland's 90th-Birthday Concert: Set I Marian McPartland celebrates her 90th birthday in style with a special concert at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in Jazz at Lincoln Center. Some of the biggest stars in the jazz universe stop by to pay tribute to McPartland, and the birthday girl gets everything she wants, performing duets with singer Norah Jones, violinist Regina Carter and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. Antics and Anguish: Puccini's 'La Boheme' Electric passion becomes lasting love, and ends with desperate tragedy, in Puccini's La Boheme — maybe the greatest "date opera" in history — in a racy new production from the Washington National Opera. Saadiq Revisits R&B Past In 'The Way I See It' Raphael Saadiq, the lead vocalist in the late-1980s R&B band Tony! Toni! Tone!, has emerged as solo artist with his new album The Way I See It. Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review. Join The Of Montreal Chat Room Chat about the of Montreal concert. Colourmusic: 'Put In A Little Gas' F, Monday, Orange, February, Venus, Lunatic, 1 or 13, the improbably named, full-length debut from rock band Colourmusic, has a mouthful of a title, and it's not the only thing that's over-the-top about the Oklahoma group. Not only does the band dress in matching all-white outfits for live performances, but they've also gone so far as to grow matching bushy mustaches and beards. So it's not surprising that the personal quirks of the band spill over into the music. Vienna Teng On Mountain Stage Teng did a complete turnaround when she opted out of a lucrative career as a software engineer in the Silicon Valley to pursue music. Classically trained on the piano, Teng evokes Chopin, while her voice brings to mind Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos. Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' Still Haunts Singers The singer's 1973 hit "Jolene" has been covered more than any of her other songs. Parton says that "Jolene" remains popular in part because of how universal it is: Everyone relates to the singer's sense of inadequacy, and that comes through in each musician's rendition. Of Montreal: Live In Concert The Athens, Ga., band Of Montreal, led by frenetic frontman Kevin Barnes, has built a reputation on meticulously crafted, synth-driven psych-pop, with flamboyant production and gleeful sonic flourishes. Of Montreal brought this musical spectacle to Washington, D.C., for a full concert, webcast live at NPR.org. Great Big Sea: Sea Shanties Meet Rock For 15 years, it's been Great Big Sea's quest to form the perfect marriage of pop music and Newfoundland's sea-shanty tradition. The band's new album finds its hard-driving sound exploring more rock territory, with a core inextricably tied to the group's homeland.