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Artist Profiles

Artist Profiles - Trumpeter Mike Wade

Mike Wade began playing trumpet in his pre teen years. While attending the Duke Ellington School of Arts in Washington, D.C., he received a National Symphony Fellowship to study with symphony trumpeters. He attended Howard University for one year before transferring to Central State University on full scholarship, where he received his bachelor’s in music education. Mike attended The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Mastering in Classical Trumpet for a year. He is no stranger to the titles of...

Remembering Vibraphonist and NEA Jazz Master Bobby Hutcherson

Artist Profiles - The Crusaders

Racism In American South Inspired Gary Clark Jr.'s 'This Land'

By Michel Martin & Dustin DeSoto • 31 minutes ago

A small moment of anger pushed Grammy-winning artist Gary Clark Jr. to create the unapologetic, seething song "This Land."

The Poets Of Fishing Gather In Oregon

By editor • 10 hours ago

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This weekend, fisherman and fishing women gather in Astoria, Ore., as they do once a year, to appreciate the compositions of BJ Leiderman, who writes our theme music, and to read and perform their own poetry. Melanie Sevcenko has the story.

Isaac Mizrahi: From Following Mom Into The Fitting Room, To Fashion Fame

By Scott Simon • 10 hours ago

Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi opens his new memoir, I.M., in the toy aisle at the Avenue U Variety Store. It's the mid-1960s, and he desperately wants a deluxe Barbie set — which comes with a doll and three outfits. Unfortunately for 5-year-old Mizrahi, a Barbie was "the exact thing that would label a kid in those days as someone who was a freak," he says.

Chloë Grace Moretz Wants To 'Fear The Next Step'

By Scott Simon • 10 hours ago

In the new horror-thriller film Greta, Frances and the titular Greta find each other in a time-honored old movie way: Frances sees a woman's handbag in a seat on the New York subway. This nice young woman, who has just come to New York, does a nice thing.

She opens the bag, finds a wallet, ignores the money, and returns the bag to its owner, who turns out to be an elegant older woman full of conspicuous kindness and courtesy. They seem happy to find each other.

Chronin's Elegant, Minimalist Samurai Adventure Is – Literally – Timeless

By Etelka Lehoczky • 12 hours ago

Let's hear it for cleverness! Sometimes a few modest, well-thought-out ideas can add up to an artistic creation as impactful as — and even more appealing than — the weightiest projects. That's the case with Chronin, Alison Wilgus' new graphic novel. Like a miniaturist or scrimshaw engraver, Wilgus has a keen appreciation for the power of constraints. By setting careful limits on what her book will look like and what kind of story it will tell, she's achieved an aesthetic balance that's a thing of beauty in itself.

R. Kelly Bond Set At $1 Million After Arrest On Charges Of Aggravated Sexual Abuse

By Colin Dwyer & Anastasia Tsioulcas • 23 hours ago

Updated Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2:36 p.m. ET

R&B star R. Kelly was arrested on Friday evening after having been indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County, Ill. On Saturday afternoon, a judge set bond at $1 million.

A police spokesman confirmed Friday night that Kelly was under arrest and in police custody; Kelly turned himself in at Chicago's 1st District-Central police station.

A Sprawling Blueprint For Protest Music, Courtesy Of The Jazz Duke

By Audie Cornish, Christian McBride & Noah Caldwell • Feb 22, 2019

This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Find more at NPR.org/Anthem.

Netflix Buys Rights To Stream Chinese Sci-Fi Blockbuster 'The Wandering Earth'

By Laurel Wamsley • Feb 22, 2019

The movie The Wandering Earth has already grossed more than $600 million globally since it was released in theaters Feb. 5. If you haven't seen the sci-fi disaster epic yet, that might be because it was made in China.

'You Better Own This': How Rami Malek Came To Embody Freddie Mercury

By Terry Gross • Feb 22, 2019

DAVE DAVIES, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross. The Academy Awards ceremony is Sunday. Today we continue our series of interviews with Oscar nominees. We begin with actor Rami Malek, who's up for best actor in the film "Bohemian Rhapsody," playing Freddie Mercury of the band Queen. The film's also nominated for Best Picture, Best Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. The title of the film comes from the title of one of their most famous songs.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY")

Jussie Smollett's Character Removed From Final Episodes Of 'Empire' Season

By Colin Dwyer • Feb 22, 2019

Just a day after Jussie Smollett found himself formally in legal jeopardy, arrested in Chicago for filing a false police report, the Empire actor's job appears to be in jeopardy as well. Executive producers of the Fox program announced Friday that his character, Jamal, would not appear in the final episodes of the current season.