A music critic revisits 2 artists he overlooked in 2023: King Tuff and Danny Brown

Given the ceaseless torrent of music being released, it's almost inevitable that worthy artists slip through the cracks. Rocker King Tuff and hip-hop's Brown deserve a special mention.

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Guitarist Marnie Stern mixes wit and warmth on 'The Comeback Kid'

Stern is known for the eight years she spent as a guitarist in Seth Meyers' late-night-talk-show house band, but her own upbeat, highlight original music is unlike anything you'll ever hear on TV.

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Reflecting on the legacy of the flute in pop music

This week, Andre 3000 released an instrumental album featuring the flute instead of an expected rap album. Scott Simon asks LA Times' August Brown about the flute's decades-long role in pop music.

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Composer Angelica Sanchez takes inspiration from the sound of the woods at night

Sanchez's latest album, Night Creatures, features music for nine instruments that variously contrast, blend or clash — channeling the open-air feeling of the pitch-dark woods at night.

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A disciplined plea for peace – and quiet – from composer Arvo Pärt

A new album of music by the 88-year-old Estonian mystic seems to put an arm around you and whisper, "In troubled times, music can help."

(Image credit: Luciano Rossetti/ECM Records)

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The Beatles' 'Now and Then' is a wistful curiosity, 45 years in the making

The Beatles' final song could never live up to the body of work that precedes it. But it could never diminish it, either.

(Image credit: Bruce McBroom/© Apple Corps Ltd.)

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Argue's Secret Society produces 'Maximum Tension' on a lively new album

Composer Darcy James Argue runs a jazz big band — but imagines its sound as if big bands had stayed current rather than faded away. The music's clarity, contrasts and rhythms are all impressive.

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'Fresh Air' marks the 100th birthday of legendary opera soprano Maria Callas

Widely considered the greatest singing actor in opera history, Callas died in 1977 at the age of 53. Now, several new releases celebrate both her singing and her acting.

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Blink-182 is back with reunion record 'One More Time'

Blink-182's new album is called One More Time, and it's the first for their classic lineup in 12 years — the same three members who landed those pop-punk hits in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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'Archives' box set surveys a crucial part of Joni Mitchell's pop career

The five discs in Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 3, The Asylum Years (1972-1975) represent both a summation of Mitchell's pop achievement and a harbinger of her later, more experimental work.

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An appreciation of Von Freeman, the patron saint of Chicago jazz musicians

The tenor saxophonist, who died in 2012, would have been 100 on Oct. 3. Freeman's weekly jam session at the New Apartment Lounge on Chicago's South Side became an international pilgrimage site.

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On 'Scarlet,' Doja Cat finds power harnessing the darkness of online vitriol

The pop star has always loved out-trolling her trolls. But Doja Cat's fourth album and dramatic rollout pushes that persona further, interpreting her antics through a playfully demonic lens.

(Image credit: Illustration by Jackie Lay)

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Celebrating jazz great Sam Rivers, on what would have been his 100th birthday

The composer and multi-instrumentalist from El Reno, Okla., played blues, bebop, big-band music and free jazz — and sometimes a mix of everything. Rivers also gave other musicians a place to play.

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Musician Allison Russell is full surprises and ambition on 'The Returner'

The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist spent years in various bands, including Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters. Now Russell's startling sophomore album serves as a sort of rebirth.

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Tiny Tech Tips: From iPhone to Nothing Phone

As the world waits for the iPhone 15, a loyal iPhone user tries out a competitor, the Nothing Phone 2.

(Image credit: courtesy of Nothing)

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Critic's corner: Blur's 'The Ballad of Darren'

British band Blur, lead by singer-songwriter Damon Albarn, has a new album. It's called The Ballad of Darren.

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Nicki Minaj paints hip-hop pink — and changes the game

The 2010 Nicki Minaj album Pink Friday brought vibrant new shades to hip-hop.

(Image credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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Bon Iver wasn't born in a vacuum — it took an 'Epoch' to form

DeYarmond Edison's Epoch revels in the early alchemic triumphs of Bon Iver and Megafaun members. But the box set also reminds us that no moment of creative inspiration takes place spontaneously.

(Image credit: D.L. Anderson/Courtesy of the artist)

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Noname's 'Sundial' pursues a hip-hop revolution

The Chicago rapper and poet is among the greatest lyricists of her generation. In asking tough questions of the art she practices, her third album reveals a fearless and visionary performer.

(Image credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

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After 12 years, pianist Awadagin Pratt rediscovers his sweet spot

Absent from the recording studio for more than a decade, the restless musician has commissioned six composers for his new album.

(Image credit: Rob Davidson/Courtesy of the artist)

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'Verdi Choruses' showcases the impressive variety of a master's choral music

Verdi imagined each of his operas painted with a different tincture. Conductor Riccardo Chailly puts together an exciting new album of Verdi's choruses, from his best known to his most obscure.

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Wayne Shorter, From Here to Eternity

Nearly six months after his death, a tribute concert and a documentary attempt to capture the spirit of the perpetually exploring saxophonist and composer.

(Image credit: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images)

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Becca Mancari fights for their existence with an expanded pop palette

On Left Hand, Mancari positions themselves in the eye of sonic storms to communicate emotional truths with startling clarity.

(Image credit: Sophia Matinazad/Courtesy of the artist)

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'They Live In My Head' is as vital any album the Bush Tetras have ever made

Bush Tetras formed in NYC in 1979, at the height of the punk era. Decades later, the band brings a sustained energy to a new album, an urgency to get things said and to make some different sounds.

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Jazz pianist Sonny Clark gets first-class treatment on a new box set collection

Clark recorded nine sessions with the prestigious Blue Note label between 1957 and '61. A new set featuring his work as band leader for the label showcases his crisp, tuneful creativity.

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From NPR's 'Alt Latino,' a review of Karol G's 'Manana Sera Bonito: Bichota Season'

NPR's Alt Latino host Anamaria Sayre reviews Colombian singer Karol G's second album of the year, Manana Sera Bonito: Bichota Season.

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MeShell Ndegeocello shows off her range and experience on 'Omnichord'

Ndegeocello has combined soul, funk, pop, hip-hop and jazz to create a unique body of work over the course of her more than 30-year career. Now in her 50s, her latest album is The Omnichord Real Book.

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2 Live Crew fought the law with its album, 'As Nasty As They Wanna Be'

In 1989, 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be became the first album declared legally obscene, and the group's legal battles set a precedent for the rappers that followed.

(Image credit: Raymond Boyd / Contributor/Getty Images / Michael Ochs Archives)

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Eric B. & Rakim change the flow of rap with 'Paid in Full'

With their 1987 debut album Paid in Full, Eric B. & Rakim introduced internal rhyme schemes to rap, and changed the flow of hip-hop forever.

(Image credit: David Corio / Contributor/Getty Images)

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Jessy Lanza's bubbly house music dwells in the moment

On her new album, the electronic artist's hooks are bigger and her palette is brighter, but the void is ever-present.

(Image credit: Trent Tomlinson/Courtesy of the artist)

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Joni Mitchell's return 'At Newport' reconfigures her legacy

The surprise performance at the Newport Folk Festival, now released as an album, is another exciting evolution in Joni Mitchell's notoriously chameleonic career.

(Image credit: Nina Westervelt/Courtesy of the artist)

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The Clientele, reliably dreamy for decades, tears up its delicate formula

The long-running British band introduces drum-and-bass-tinged breakbeats, strings and dub production to its delicate indie pop.

(Image credit: Andy Willsher/Courtesy of the artist)

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Critic's corner: Blur's 'The Ballad of Darren'

British band Blur, lead by singer-songwriter Damon Albarn, has a new album. It's called The Ballad of Darren.

* This article was originally published here

Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album

The tenor sax player came up in Chicago and toured in the '60s with Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Randy Weston. Jordan's forgotten album, Drink Plenty of Water, mixes singers with a small ensemble.

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Blur's 'Ballad' to bittersweet midlife

On The Ballad of Darren, the band's ninth album (and a surprise after years away), Damon Albarn and company understand the key to aging gracefully is noticing the things your younger self never could.

(Image credit: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis/Courtesy of the artist)

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