Congressman Tom Cole

The jazz-rock pioneer passed away in his sleep Feb. 19 in New York City.

One of the most respected jazz guitarists working today, the Austrian musician has spent his career straddling borders, be they sonic or geographic.

The American historian, critic and columnist Nat Hentoff fell in love with jazz as a kid in Boston — primarily because of the freedom and emotion it expressed. For 50 years, he wrote about jazz and social justice issues for The Village Voice. He died at home on Saturday while listening to Billie Holiday. He was 91.

Inspired by Toumani Diabate, the classically trained South African guitarist performs songs originally written for the kora.

Shot outside an arena in suburban Maryland hosting a Judas Priest and Dokken double bill, the short documentary captured something vital about its moment in music history.

The man Susan Stamberg called "NPR's secret weapon," whose depth of knowledge matched the perfect music to NPR's stories for 20 years, was an accomplished musician in his own right.

Derek Gripper's exploration of West African kora music has produced two acclaimed albums — and, he says, a better understanding of the classical music he played as a kid.

The Belgian-American musician, also known for his guitar playing and whistling, performed with the stars of postwar jazz and was widely heard on film scores and commercial jingles.

The new documentary, compiled from a deep archive of interviews, focuses on Frank Zappa's serious side — as a composer keen on exploring ugliness and difficulty.

The guitarist's custom seven-string axe lets him create a deeply funky bass line and a Hendrix-like melody — at the same time.

Over the course of his 40-year career, Davies has only released six full-length feature films. His latest, Sunset Song, follows a young Scottish woman in the years before World War I.

Paul Kantner co-founded the band Jefferson Airplane with Marty Balin in 1965. When that band broke up, he founded Jefferson Starship and led the band for more than 40 years. Kantner d...

Jazz guitarist John Scofield has had a pretty remarkable career. Without even finishing music school, he found himself on the Carnegie Hall stage playing with jazz legends Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. Then it was on to Miles Davis, his own successful jazz-funk fusion ...

"I consider the guitar as this sort of multi-faceted instrument," says Janet Feder, "that can make and do all of these other things."

Chime like a bell, or gong, buzz like a locust, or rattle and hum.

To make those sounds, Feder attaches beads, alligator clips, split rings and other ...

The National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, two federal grant-making agencies aimed at investing in American culture, turn 50 on Tuesday.

Guitarist and composer John Scofield's 2015 album is called Past Present. And that's what it is: four jazz musicians very much in the moment, looking back at events that informed the music they're playing—and listening back to a sound three of them created some 20 years ago.

Scofield's own ...

The great bluesman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and toured relentlessly his whole life, wringing peerless emotion out of every note he played.

Pat Dowell, a freelance film reporter for NPR, died on Sunday. Dowell had been dealing with health issues for some time, but her death came as a surprise. She was 66 years old.

Pat was a freelance for us for close to 30 years. Before that, she was a film ...

The longtime piano accompanist and musical director accidentally broke the hit "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." But he was also the driving force behind the style Bennett is best known for.