Dr. Dre gets a cosmic challenge from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about his planets-inspired album project in the studio. Dr. Dre walked into a studio moment that most producers never experience ...

ARQuesta Del SolSoul takes inspiration from jazz, hip-hop, Afrobeat, spoken word — even science fiction writing. ARQuesta Del SolSoul has a big goal. As they state on their Bandcamp page, the group ...

This is FRESH AIR. There are two fat, new biographies of composers and pianists born 43 years apart. Their music transcended jazz, but recognition for their work was slow - James P. Johnson, born in ...

I’ve been trying to avoid this all my life, but it had to happen one day [audience laughter]. Seriously, this music would have inspired me even had I been born into a different family in a different ...

Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews biographies of two musicians who transcended jazz, and to whom recognition was slow in coming: James P. Johnson, born in 1894, and Alice Coltrane, born in 1937. This is ...