Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his St. Matthew Passion for a single purpose — to present the Passion story in music at Good Friday vesper services. Bach's Passion continues to move audiences nearly three centuries after it was first heard in St. Thomas's Church in Leipzig, Germany. Standing as one of the pillars of Western sacred music, it is at once monumental and intimate, deeply sorrowful and powerful. As more festivals, performances and concerts are canceled due to the coronavirus shutdown, musicians of all stripes and sizes are taking to social and streaming platforms to play live for their fans,. Withers was 81 years old. According to a family statement given to the Associated Press , he died Monday in Los Angeles due to heart complications. Bucky Pizzarelli, a tasteful sage of jazz guitar who spent the first phase of his career as a prolific session player and the last phase as a celebrated patriarch, died on Wednesday in Saddle River, N. Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, his oldest son and regular musical partner, said the cause was the coronavirus.


Top Podcasts In Music


NPR Music picks Haunts
We asked our panel of public radio writers one question: What is your favorite album of so far? There were so many ways to answer: we've heard albums that feel germane to our time, that allowed us to escape, that reconfigured a beloved artist's roots or that signaled the next wave of sound. But ultimately, what we have here are the No. So you won't find a ranked list, or any reason to wonder about behind-the-scenes jostling for higher spots — there will be plenty of time for spirited debate in December. In the meantime, it's time to find your new favorite album. Orville Peck's Pony might be the most engaging and eerie album to come along in quite some time. With a haunting croon that adds to the mystique, Peck mixes a classic country sensibility with nostalgic ballads and a contemporary gothic vibe. Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell, Amythyst Kiah and Leyla McCalla answered to the trend of fedora-and-suspenders-clad white folksingers, by dropping this stunner of a folk collection. Each exquisitely performed tune has been pulled from — or inspired by — deep, overlooked, oppressed black tradition. It is best heard by listening closely.
All Songs Considered
Series produced by NPR Music. Every week, host Bob Boilen and producer Robin Hilton go through hundreds of new cds to find sneak previews of music that's worth getting excited about, whether it's the latest Swedish pop band, a hip hop artist going ambient, or a singer-songwriter with a twisted new take on love. Sometimes, artists or critics stop by All Songs Considered with their top picks. All Songs Considered started as an online show in after receiving countless letters from listeners who wanted to know more about the music played between stories on NPR's evening news program, All Things Considered. It is a show that one week can feature the music of Portugal and the next feature the White Stripes or Andrew Bird. All Songs Considered has a dedicated and growing online audience: Hundreds of thousands listen to All Songs Considered on the web and via podcast every month and the All Songs podcast is consistently ranked the 1 music podcast in iTunes. Hide full description. Now All Songs Considered has become a
Explicit content. NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out this week include pure escapism from Kylie Minogue's Disco, the "destructive" pop-rap of Bree A treasure trove of unheard Joni Mitchell recordings has just been released with more than a hundred tracks from the early s, including NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out on Oct. All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen talks with The Flaming Lips frontman about drugs, the tragic loss of friends, the impact on families and NPR Music's shortlist of the best new albums out on Oct. NPR Music's shortlist of the best new albums out this week includes the soaring synth-pop of Future Islands, the country duo Brothers Featured Tracks We pick our favorite music released in September , featuring Cuban hip-hop artist La Dame Blanche, Masego's summer wanderlust, Big