The 18th New York African Film Festival kicks off Wednesday with the documentary “Kinshasa Symphony,” a film about the Democratic Republic of Congo’s only symphony orchestra.

The atypical R&B vocalist performs her music about passionate romance, bitter breakups and gay suicide in New York on Tuesday night.

Jesse Harris brings his laid-back jazzy songwriting style to Le Poisson Rouge Tuesday night. Download his instrumental track "Little Star" here.

Legendary club owner and nightlife icon Don Hill died Thursday. He was 66.

“Footage is to be projected at the final LCD Soundsystem show at Madison Square Garden on Saturday April 2nd 2011 so we need to receive it Thursday and Friday to be able to prepare it,” wrote music video director Lance Bangs.

The Dears, elder statesmen of Canadian indie rock, play New York Tuesday night, touring a new studio album. Download their track "Blood" for free.

In the age of YouTube, sometimes it seems like everyone is a cover artist. This weekend, two groups of young artists take on music from the past at Harlem Stage and the Joyce Soho Theater.

With warm weather on its way, New Yorkers are coming out of hibernation and going out to plays and concerts. At least, that’s the idea behind Spring Downtown, an arts festival that begins this week at selected venues, all below Houston street.

More than a week after the March 11 earthquake hit, eyes, hearts and browser windows have been trained on Japan. Here is a list of events happening around the city to raise funds.

Toshi Reagon is a songwriter who combines a blues-and-soul sensibility with rock-and-roll swagger and thoughtful commentary. Download "Beauty" here, from her upcoming album There and Back Again.

Wednesday night, instead of the grab-bag of spoken word, dance and all manner of music at the Apollo's Amateur Night, the audience will rule on jittery newcomers singing Broadway repetoire.

New York music fans traveled to Austin, Texas this week to see their favorite New York bands play the annual South by Southwest Music Conference. The festival kicked off Tuesday night and runs through Monday.

West Coast rap artist and singer Nate Dogg has died at age 41.

South by Southwest kicks off tonight in Austin Texas, and 225 bands from New York City are representing for the Big Apple. Download over 50 free tracks from local artists performing at SXSW here.

The New York Dolls released its new album Walking Backward in High Heels on Tuesday. Check out a video of the New York Dolls playing "I'm So Fabulous" at WNYC's Soundcheck studios here.

Deerhoof, the indie rock band led by Tokyo-born singer Satomi Matsuzaki, kicked off JapanNYC at Carnegie Hall with a concert on Monday night.

Wednesday afternoon, a selection of amps, guitars and other memorabilia from rock star Eric Clapton's personal collection were auctioned off at Bonhams in Manhattan to a room chock-full of fans of the English rock icon.

On “Eli,” Ravid Kahalani and his band Yemen Blues sing in a Yemenite Hebrew dialect over a rich curtain of sound that includes jazzy horns, soaring strings, and relentless percussion beats. Download the track for free here.

Indie songwriting legend Conor Oberst, alias Bright Eyes, takes the stage at Radio City tonight, promoting his latest (and last) release The People's Key. Download "Shell Game" and "Halie Selassie" here.

The Turtle Island Quartet has spent a lot of time listening to Jimi Hendrix lately. Watch our video of the band playing "All Along The Watchtower" on a visit to WNYC's Soundcheck studios here.