‘Intimate, Honest, Homebound Conversations’: Amplify With Lara Downes

Plus, new music from ABBA; celebrating Marian Anderson [View this email online]( [NPR Music]( by Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna [Lara Downes]( NPR Creative minds find inspiration in moments of crisis: Over the past five months, we’ve been honored to share the exceptional video series [Amplify with Lara Downes](. The program allows viewers to sit in on in-depth conversations with boundary-pushing Black artists across the creative spectrum. In its second season, Amplify included thought-provoking dialogues with young classical virtuoso [Randall Goosby]( genre-busting polymath [Esperanza Spalding]( R&B/jazz singer extraordinaire [Ledisi]( and more. In honor of the conclusion of the series’ second season, we asked Downes to share a short reflection on what she’s learned: “These conversations captured a year in our lives – and what a year. Within an apocalyptic landscape of pandemic, racial violence and reckoning, my friends and colleagues opened up to share raw, intense emotions: grief, fear, rage, confusion, panic, disbelief… But just beneath the burning ground of this awful year, new life was sprouting, and I think these intimate, honest, homebound conversations helped the seedlings grow. “The act of coming together and listening gave us solace, strength and courage, and amplified our quiet hopes about what can emerge from catastrophe if you tend the soil. We’ve helped each other lean into gratitude for what we have, recognition of what we’re made of, awareness of what we can do in the world and determination to do it better. “This year changed all of us in ways that we’re just beginning to understand. I’m so grateful to have had these conversions. I know they changed me, and I hope they invited you into the experience of change in the making, a time to remember and what I hope is the beginning of a new day.” --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- New Music - We didn’t get to hear the new Drake album Certified Lover Boy before recording this week’s All Songs Considered New Music Friday, but fear not – Robin Hilton and the team found [plenty of other wonderful new albums to talk about]( including the latest from rapper Little Simz, metal icons Iron Maiden, rising reggaeton singer Jhay Cortez and more. - Every month, we ask our colleagues to tell us the one song or album they couldn’t stop playing. [Their picks for August]( include the explosive energy of Foxing, the delicious melodies of Miłosz Magin and the envelope-pushing hard bop of Lee Morgan. Plus, [our Member stations got in on the fun]( — their Heavy Rotation selections include an ode to the birthplace of the blues, an anthemic love letter to New Orleans and a powerful message of feminist affirmation. - Singer-songwriter Madi Diaz signed a publishing deal at the age of 20, landing songs on TV shows – and just before she released what was expected to be her breakthrough album, her label folded. Since then, she’s made her way through breakups with the industry and a partner to arrive at her sharpest perspective by far on [her first album in seven years, History Of A Feeling](. - This week on [#NowPlaying]( NPR Music’s guide to today’s essential releases, we shared [the first new song from ABBA in nearly 40 years]( the [volcanic guitars and hazy memories of indie rock band Wednesday]( a reworked track from Jack Wilson's album Easterly Winds [by Makaya McCraven]( and [composer Tyshawn Sorey's symphonic salute]( to one of his mentors. --------------------------------------------------------------- Featuring - Musician Tim Ries has been a touring member of The Rolling Stones since 1999; he also enjoyed a special relationship with the band’s recently-departed drummer Charlie Watts as their shared love of jazz bloomed into a series of collaborations. [In a remembrance to his friend]( Ries writes his favorite nights were ones without a show, when he and Watts would sneak into town to play the music they loved most. - [Lee “Scratch” Perry]( the legendary producer of reggae and dub music, died earlier this week at the age of 85. A global repository of music knowledge, Perry translated his aural innovations into rock and rap in his work with The Clash, Paul McCartney and The Beastie Boys. - This week, our friend Sam Sanders from It’s Been A Minute chatted with the hosts of KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic [about their end-of-summer song picks]( and their favorite albums of the year so far. - From the opening of their very first hit, The Everly Brothers spoke directly to the deepest longings and anxieties of the generation that would come to define the rock and soul era. [In a keynote originally delivered for the Rock Hall and later adapted in her book]( Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music, NPR Music critic Ann Powers explains that the recent passing of Don Everly signaled the demise of the cohort that made teenage trend into an anchorage. - Marian Anderson: Beyond the Music, a deluxe new release of albums and images, honors the trailblazing singer who broke the color barrier at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955. Together NPR Classical’s Tom Huizenga and scholar and author Shana L. Redmond [celebrate the great contralto with a collection of archival photos and a special playlist](. - From NPR Live Sessions: [Watch Durand Jones and The Indications perform “Witchoo”]( live for WFUV. --------------------------------------------------------------- Tiny Desk [Tiny Desk]( NPR A lot has happened since we brought London rapper Little Simz to the Tiny Desk, all the way back in 2017: a role in the Drake-pushed reboot of Top Boy on Netflix; plenty of praise for her 2019 album, Grey Area; plus, the prestigious Pioneer Award at the AIM Awards. Now, she’s back with a self-searching new album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert – and to celebrate, she [performed a Tiny Desk (home) concert]( of new tracks with a stellar backing band. Also this week: [DMV rapper Rico Nasty]( performs a high-energy, joyful set and [the sisters of The Staves]( gather around their kitchen table to really put the “home” in Tiny Desk (home) concert. Plus, our friends at Jazz Night In America highlighted [the best jazz entries]( to this year’s Tiny Desk Contest. --------------------------------------------------------------- Incoming 📚 It’s Labor Day weekend, which means NPR Music is hitting the books and heading back to school! Next week’s newsletter will be a special summer reading send, recapping some of our favorite books and featuring picks from artists we love. --------------------------------------------------------------- One Final Thing Nearly every Saturday morning since October 2018, you, kind reader, have welcomed this newsletter into your inbox. And every Monday morning that’s followed, my co-writer, colleague and friend Marissa Lorusso and I have convened to read your feedback (did you know you can always use the link at the bottom of every edition to send us your thoughts?). Penning this newsletter and recapping the best of NPR Music has been an absolute joy each and every week, but no newsletter team can remain the same forever. As I depart NPR Music after almost five years and hundreds of Tiny Desk concerts, we’re shaking up things a little bit. But worry not! You’ll still get a weekly email covering the very best NPR Music has to offer, but beginning later this month, expect to see even more names from the NPR Music team in your inbox. Regardless of who’s writing, our commitment to big-tent coverage – from classical and country to pop, hip-hop, R&B and under-the-radar rock – remains the same. “[Wide Open Spaces]( Lyndsey McKenna --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( What do you think of today's email? 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