Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis’ newest album “dreams, soars and levitates” through an intricately flowing compositional architecture with the inclusion of a newly commissioned harp concerto by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon . “The idea was the interplay and the precociousness, and the childlike wonder,” Kondonassis elaborates on how Higdon encompassed her emotions in the composition. “She really impressed upon us that this is fluid and full of wonder, rather than the somnambulant kind of experience.” Kondonassis’ album “American Rapture” expands upon how North American compositions have developed through three generations and features the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Ward Stare. Listen to the full interview between Kondonassis, Stare and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas ’ upcoming season promises to be their best yet, honoring Beethoven’s 250 th birthday with “bucket list pieces” such as “Carmina Burana” and “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Paul Hass, SoNA's music director, credits the orchestra’s success to its familial atmosphere. “It’s so exciting to be a part of something like this that’s constantly growing,” Haas says. “It really is like a family—we all care about each other. This is something special; not every community has this.” SoNA’s upcoming season will feature multiple collaborations including the SoNA singers for “Carmina Burana” and violinist Jennifer Frautschi for “Beethoven’s Violin Concerto”. SoNA will also perform a premiere of Haas’ new composition, Angelique . Listen to the full interview between Haas and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

On a journey of musical and personal self-discovery, violinist Janet Sung dove into vulnerability to produce her latest album “Edge of Youth,” which represents who she is as an artist through personal expression. “In order to really convey what all of the works were really offering, I would have to really look deeply and be utterly convinced of the thing that I was trying to communicate,” Sung explains about her individual interpretation. “It really starts to become something that comes from within yourself.” The album also features Missy Mazzoli’s Dissolve, O my Heart , which spins off of Bach’s Partita in D Minor to build and unravel, breaking with the recognized Bach tradition to further Sung’s unique expression. Listen to the full interview between Sung and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

The Fort Smith Symphony’s upcoming season promises film scores and more, but it’s not your average John Williams programming. Music Director John Jeter picked film scores of Hans Zimmer and Bernard Herrmann to take center stage. “Now, there is a whole series of composers who have kind of taken over that mantel, and we wanted to kind of celebrate that different approach to film scoring,” Jeter says. All but the more traditionally programmed opening concert will include 20 th century music, most of which presents itself as film scores for movies such as Interstellar , Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean . The Fort Smith Symphony’s opening concert will feature pianist Drew Petersen on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 . For their closing concert, the symphony will accompany a showing of the movie North by Northwest with a performance of the full film score by Bernard Herrmann. Listen to the full interview between Jeter and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

The possibilities of artistic expression are limitless with every piece of music, but composer and pianist Craig Swanson took it to another level with the release of his album “The French Suite Kit.” Swanson was inspired by pianist Glenn Gould to create multiple unique variations of Bach’s French Suite No. 4 in Eb Major , giving listeners more control over how they prefer to hear Bach expressed. “Part of the joy of music is its improvisatory nature, and trying to find all of the potential expressions that are worthwhile in your music,” Swanson says. “It seemed to me that there was a wealth of possibility not limiting yourself to one particular way or one particular approach.” Listen to the full interview between Swanson and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

Violinist Itamar Zorman navigated exotic Israeli scales and modes to release his newest album “Evocation,” which highlights distinctive works by German-born Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim. “There is a really delicate but wonderful balance between the emotional content and the technical form of the piece, and the analytical part of it,” Zorman explains about reflecting Ben-Haim’s multi-cultural influenced compositions. Listen to the full interview between Zorman and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

The University of Arkansas recently welcomed Gerry Snyder as the School of Art's first ever executive director. He will play an instrumental role in cultivating the newly minted School of Art's role at the university and beyond following the $120 million gift from the the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation and $40 million gift from the Windgate Foundation to develop an art and design district. “The fact that [this gift] has been given to education, and specifically to art, is visionary in my mind,” Snyder says. “If you look at life, even in its most challenging circumstances, creativity is important. Art is central to almost any civilization or culture.” Snyder hopes to create a strategic plan in this upcoming year for how to use the gift to represent the UA and the local community, while foremost furthering art education. Listen to the full interview between Snyder and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

Women composers and performers united to create art from the human condition with pianist Lara Downes’ latest album “Holes in the Sky,” named for a poem by Georgia O’Keeffe. In addition to representing women in music, “Holes in the Sky” also served to support human welfare efforts, including PLAN International to support impoverished children. “These are stories about the power of the expressive urge, the creative urge, to come forward,” Downes says about the potential of music. “It will come forward, despite anything else trying to constrain it.” Downes will represent women’s contributions to the past, present and future of American music by performing music from “Holes in the Sky” 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art as part of the Van Cliburn Concert Series . Listen to the full interview between Downes and Of Note’s Katy Henriksen with the streaming link above.

During our winter fundraiser, December 9th through the 13th, KUAF will once again offer a collection of performances recorded for Ozarks at Large throughout the year. KUAF Live 2019 is a double CD of 23 performances, all recorded live at the KUAF studios, the Carver Center for Public Radio or at Fayetteville Public Television. Most were recorded in the Firmin-Garner Performance studio and all tracks were recorded for Ozarks at Large in 2019. We'd like to thank the artists who agreed to partner with us on this project and all the donors who make a project like this possible. We look forward to offering another KUAF Live CD in 2020! Learn more about the artists featured on the KUAF Live 2019 CD below: Disc 1 - Nick Shoulders JD Clayton Kalyn Fay Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster Jordan Moser Serrano-Torres Candy Lee The Time Burners Statehouse Electric The Lark and the Loon Dandelion Heart The Vine Brothers Disc 2 - U of A World Music Ensemble Dawson Hollow Becky Vintage Pistol Me Like Bees

It was six years ago that Catriona Rilley and Aby Watson had their lightbulb moment, while mopping the floors of Glasgow's Flying Duck after a shift.

BOOKER Prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo, Joanna Trollope and Maggie O’Farrell are among the authors expected to appear at a literary festival in Glasgow.

GLASGOW Science Centre closed its doors to the public this week, but the team decided they couldn’t let science boffins miss out.

ALL three Stand comedy clubs closed to the public last Monday. Following the advice of Boris Johnson (note: advice, not a ruling – gotta protect those massive insurance providers, eh Prime Minister?) we didn’t feel it was right to stay open and put people at potential risk.

Even in self-isolation, we can learn something new every day.

Shops are closing. Newspaper sales are falling. But we’ve chosen to keep our online journalism free because it’s so important that the people of Glasgow stay informed during this crisis.

WHEN the world first came across Gary Meikle, we met his eyebrows before his face.

Small music venues across the city could be among some of the hardest hit businesses due to the coronavirus crisis, a charity has said.

GBX DJ George Bowie will perform from the balcony of his Glasgow home via Facebook live tomorrow afternoon in aid of Children's Hospice Across Scotland (CHAS).

Glasgow Comic Con is postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus crisis.

Zakary Pashak is a rare breed. His company, Detroit Bikes, is one of the very few American bicycle makers. Most bikes come from China. At times, Pashak endured ridicule at trade shows. "I'd get kind of surly bike mechanics coming up and telling me that my products stunk. There's definitely a fair bit of attitude in my industry," he says. But last September, the industry's tune abruptly changed. The first round of U.S. tariffs, or import taxes, upped the cost of Chinese-made bikes by 10%, and companies saw Detroit Bikes as a potential partner. "All of a sudden I felt like the belle of the ball or something," Pashak says. Now a new round of tariffs set at 25% is hitting imports from China. Like many other American companies, Detroit Bikes is poring over the 194-page list of imported Chinese goods subject to the levies. Companies like Detroit Bikes rely on those goods, and now they face choices that will ultimately determine the prices consumers will pay. Pashak started the company when

Updated at 4:12 p.m. ET Special counsel Robert Mueller shut down his Russia investigation on Wednesday in an unusual appearance in which he restated his findings and made clear that he never considered it an option to charge President Trump. "We are formally closing the special counsel's office," Mueller told reporters at the Justice Department on Wednesday morning. In his 10-minute statement, Mueller highlighted a few portions of his roughly 400-page report , including the section on whether President Trump obstructed justice. "If we had had confidence that the president did not commit a crime, we would have said so," he said. "We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime." Mueller emphasized that Justice Department regulations do not permit the indictment of a sitting president. Accordingly, Mueller said, he never considered it an option to seek one no matter what he had uncovered. If Americans or members of Congress want to hold a

Updated Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET A day after U.S. and Mexico officials announced an agreement to avert tariffs — set to begin on Monday — affecting billions of dollars in imports from Mexico, President Trump took a victory lap on Twitter. Under a joint agreement released by State Department officials, Mexico will assist the United States in curbing migration across the border by deploying its national guard troops through the country, especially its southern border. The deal also expands a new program called Migrant Protection Protocols, allowing U.S. immigration enforcement officials to send Central American migrants to Mexico as their asylum claims are pending Mexico says those migrants will be offered jobs, health care and education, though critics question how safe migrants will be as they await the conclusion of their claims. In addition, the agreement says Mexican authorities will work to dismantle human smuggling operations. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador praised

This year, NPR held its first Student Podcast Challenge — a podcast contest for students in grades 5 through 12. As we listened to the almost 6,000 entries , we smiled, laughed, and even cried. Students opened their lives to us with stories about their families, their schools and communities and their hopes for the future. We named our winners last month — the eighth graders of Bronx Prep Middle School in New York, and the eleventh graders of Elizabethton High School in Tennessee. But lots of other students blew us away. Here, for your listening pleasure, are just some of the many podcast entries that made us smile — and reminded us what it's like to be in middle and high school. A divisive subject: Tater tots How did tater tots come to rule the lunchroom? LA Johnson / NPR The title of this finalist was enough to get our judges' attention. In "Tater Tots and their Lasting Impact on Society," fifth-graders Jack Lazzarone and Kalvin Martinez interviewed their classmates in teacher Ryan

Updated at 8:45 p.m. ET President Trump says he might accept dirt from another country on his potential Democratic rivals if offered, raising new questions and concerns about foreign influence on American elections. "It's not an interference, they have information — I think I'd take it," Trump said. "If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI — if I thought there was something wrong." Trump made the comments in an Oval Office interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos , after being pressed about the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with Russians and Trump officials. Ahead of that meeting, which former special counsel Robert Mueller probed , the Trump campaign was offered damaging information on Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton.

This story ran on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Gloria Vanderbilt was an artist, heiress, designer and philanthropist who, for many Americans, may be best remembered for her blue jeans . She died at the age of 95. Vanderbilt's son, Anderson Cooper, announced her death Monday, airing an obituary for her on CNN. Vanderbilt had cancer, he said. "Earlier this month, we had to take her to the hospital. That's where she learned she had very advanced cancer in her stomach, and that it had spread," Cooper said. "What an extraordinary life. What an extraordinary mom. And what an incredible woman," he said, his voice quavering a bit at the end of the remembrance. Vanderbilt had full lips, eyes that turned up at the corners and a patrician bearing. She was, in fact, descended from shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, one of the richest men in American history. She was born in 1924, and her father died shortly thereafter. Vanderbilt was raised by a beloved nurse because

For the first time in a decade Congress will hold a hearing Wednesday on the subject of reparations for the descendants of slaves in the United States, a topic that has gained traction in the run-up to the 2020 elections. The hearing is set for June 19, also known as "Juneteenth," the day when in 1865 former enslaved people in Texas first learned that they had been emancipated two years earlier. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is holding the hearing on H.R. 40 , which calls for a commission to "study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans," including a formal apology by the U.S. government "for the perpetration of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants." The hearing is scheduled to feature testimony from author Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose article "The Case for Reparations," published by The Atlantic magazine in 2014, is widely credited with re-igniting the

Updated at 6:55 p.m. ET President Trump announced Thursday he would sign an executive order to obtain data about the U.S. citizenship and noncitizenship status of everyone living in the United States. In a Rose Garden ceremony, Trump said he would drop efforts to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Instead, his executive order will direct all U.S. agencies to provide the Department of Commerce all information they have on U.S. citizenship, noncitizenship and immigration status. "We have great knowledge in many of our agencies," Trump said, flanked by Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. "We will leave no stone unturned." The executive order marks the administration's latest effort to obtain the information despite a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that bars the administration from including the question on the 2020 census for now. In backing down from the legal fight, Trump appears to be doing what the Census Bureau encouraged over a year

Updated at 6:40 p.m. ET President Trump announced an executive order on gathering citizenship information, a shift from an earlier effort to get a question about citizenship on the 2020 census. Trump spoke alongside Attorney General William Barr, who praised his decision. Their remarks come after the Supreme Court blocked, for now, the addition of the question " Is this person a citizen of the United States? " on the annual headcount. Critics feared the question would lead to undercounts of immigrant groups and communities of color. Despite the justices' rejection, Trump had vowed to continue pushing for the change — even as printing of the paper forms has begun. The administration's persistence includes an attempt to change the Justice Department's legal team on the issue. But Trump's remarks Thursday indicate the administration is dropping the question fight in favor for a different avenue for getting a count of noncitizens in the U.S. Still, it's not clear what impact the executive

Updated at 7:40 p.m. ET A House panel heard at times emotional testimony about conditions at facilities run by the Department of Homeland Security. The hearing of the House oversight committee grew heated as Democrats and Republicans on the panel argued over who bore responsibility for the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at detention centers on the southern border. Republican lawmakers who represent border districts and Democratic lawmakers who have recently traveled to the border each testified. Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., disputed charges that some of those being held at a Border Patrol facility in Texas were forced to drink water from toilets. "Please, American public," Lesko said, "there is no one asking people to drink out of toilets." She referred to a video from the Arizona Border Patrol showing an agent touring a facility and drinking water from a sink above a toilet unit. But Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who made that accusation in a news conference after

When President Trump tweeted his racist remarks Sunday, asking why certain Democratic congresswomen don't just "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came," he did not just take aim at the four women of color — three of whom were born in the U.S. He did so using a taunt that has long, deeply entrenched roots in American history: Why don't you just go back where you came from? The question doesn't always appear in those precise words, nor does it always surface in the same situations. And it doesn't always get directed at the same groups of people — far from it, in fact. But more often than not, it conveys the same sentiment: You — and others like you — are not welcome here. "There have been different phrases that have been used," says Michael Cornfield , a scholar of rhetoric at George Washington University , "but the idea that we don't have any more room for people, or those people don't look like us, this is a long, ugly strain in American

Updated at 7:05 p.m. ET The House of Representatives approved a resolution Tuesday evening condemning the president for a series of racist tweets about four Democratic lawmakers. The vote was mostly along party lines, as the House split 240-187, with four Republicans supporting the nonbinding measure. Republican Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Susan Brooks of Indiana and Will Hurd of Texas joined with Democrats to rebuke the president, as did Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, who recently left the Republican Party to become an independent. The House was paralyzed for a substantial portion of the afternoon over legislative procedure. Republicans sought a ruling on the question: Does calling the president's tweets "racist" violate the rules of decorum established in the House? So an already heated debate turned to farce as the House voted on whether to sanction House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for characterizing the president's remarks as "racist," as part of a

Former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before Congress on Wednesday, and lawmakers have so many questions they may not have enough time to ask them all. The House judiciary and intelligence committees have scheduled hearings for 8:30 a.m. and noon. Majority Democrats and minority Republicans are expected to try their utmost to get the most good they can from Mueller — in very different ways. Members of Congress already postponed Mueller's hearings once to wrangle more time. Complicating the matter will be Mueller himself, who has said he intends to confine his testimony to what he has already set forth in his report. In addition, the Justice Department sent Mueller a letter on Monday night saying it expects Mueller to not stray beyond what is publicly known about his work, citing executive privilege. That won't constrain members of Congress from trying. Here are some of the questions they might ask, broken up by the majority and the minority members on these committees.

Updated at 4:56 p.m. ET Peril from foreign interference in American elections will persist through the 2020 presidential race, former special counsel Robert Mueller warned on Wednesday. Asked whether Russia would attempt to attack future U.S. elections, as it did in 2016, Mueller replied: "They're doing it as we sit here." Mueller didn't detail a prescription for how he believes Congress or the United States should respond, but he recommended generally that intelligence and law enforcement agencies should work together. "They should use the full resources that we have to address this," Mueller said. That warning came during hours of hearings, first before the House Judiciary Committee and then the intelligence committee, in which Democrats sought to underscore that Mueller had not cleared Trump of obstruction allegations and that he had found many contacts between Trump's campaign and the Russian interference in the 2016 election. "Did you actually totally exonerate the president?"

Police have identified 24-year-old white male Connor Betts from Bellbrook, Ohio, as the shooter who claimed nine lives and injured 27 others in Dayton, Ohio, early on Sunday morning. Among the nine dead was the shooter's sister, Megan Betts, 22, said Lt. Col. Matt Carper at a news conference Sunday. In addition to Betts' sister, Carper offered a complete list of the people who were among those killed in the brief but brutal shooting: Lois L. Oglesby, 27; Saeed Saleh, 38; Derrick R. Fudge, 57; Logan M. Turner, 30; Nicholas P. Cumer, 25; Thomas J. McNichols, 25; Beatrice N. Warren-Curtis, 36; Monica E. Brickhouse, 39. Carper denied suggestions that the victims were targeted. "Due to the very short timeline of violence, it's hard to imagine that there was much discrimination in the shooting," he said. "It happened in a very short amount of time." Carper offered no other details about the shooter; however, a LinkedIn profile belonging to someone of the same name and who is listed as living

Editor's note: This is an updated version of a story that was published on Nov. 9, 2018. The United States has the 28th-highest rate of deaths from gun violence in the world: 4.43 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017 — far greater than what is seen in other wealthy countries. On a state-by-state calculation, the rates can be even higher. In the District of Columbia, the rate is 16.34 per 100,000 — the highest in the United States. In Louisiana, the rate is 10.68 per 100,000. In Texas and Ohio — the scene of two mass shootings at the beginning of August — the rates are close to the national average: 4.74 per 100,000 in Texas and 4.60 in Ohio. And the national rate of gun violence in the U.S. is higher than in many low-income countries. Those findings are part of the latest version of an annual report on gun violence from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation , which tracks lives lost in every country, in every year, by every possible cause of death. The

Unlike postcard mountain resort towns, or the booming, high-tech corridor centered around Denver, Pueblo is Colorado's faded industrial relic. A city struggling to redefine its economy, and its politics following decades as a solidly blue-collar Democratic stronghold. Pueblo is a two-hour drive south from Denver, through prosperous Colorado Springs with its military bases, defense contractors and megachurches. Wide open plains stretch for miles, mountains off in the distance. And then, popping up out of the horizon, stark vertical lines: Smokestacks from the mill that gave this place its nickname, Steel City. Today only about 6% of Pueblo's jobs are in manufacturing after a decades-long decline. Loading... Old timers like Rod Slyhoff remember the day everything changed, back in 1984. "It's in my mind all the time," said Slyhoff, president and CEO of the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce. "I believe it was in March, 6,500 pink slips were issued to the [steel mill company] employees," Slyhoff

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have the stage to themselves for Sunday night's Democratic primary debate. The debate, hosted by CNN and Univision in Washington, D.C., will not have a live audience amid coronavirus concerns. Follow NPR's live coverage of the debate. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit Loading...

John Prine, a wry and perceptive writer whose country and folk songs often resembled vivid short stories, has died at age 73. His death, from complications caused by COVID-19, was confirmed by his family. Even as a young man, Prine — who famously worked as a mailman before turning to music full-time — wrote evocative songs that belied his age. With a conversational vocal approach, he quickly developed a reputation as a performer who empathized with his characters. His beloved 1971 self-titled debut features the aching "Hello In There," written from the perspective of a lonely elderly man who simply wants to be noticed, and the equally bittersweet "Angel From Montgomery." The latter song is narrated by a middle-aged woman with deep regrets over the way her life turned out, married to a man who's merely "another child that's grown old." Bestowing dignity on the overlooked and marginalized was a common theme throughout Prine's career; he became known for detailed vignettes about ordinary

This week's show begins with an interview with vocalist and trumpeter Leala Cyr. The episode concludes with vibes by Burton, including collaborations with Chick and others. In between are some great tracks by Roberta Flack, Bessie Smith, Mehldau, Ponty and others.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album
Leala Cyr ~ The Secret ~ First Instinct
Leala Cyr ~ Canyon View ~ First Instinct
Roberta Flack ~ Compared To What ~ First Take
Jeff Fuller & Friends ~ Cry Me a River ~ Happenstance
Jen Allen ~ Blanket Statement ~ Blanket Statement
Jean-Luc Ponty ~ King Kong ~ King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the music of Frank Zappa
Brad Mehldau ~ St. Mark is Howling in the City of Light ~ Finding Gabriel
Bessie Smith ~ Backwater Blues ~ Best of Bessie Smith
Chick Corea and Gary Burton ~ Eleanor Rigby ~ Hot House
Gary Burton ~ Question and Answer ~ Like Minds
Gary Burton ~ Gorgeous ~ Generations

This episode begins with tunes that can be associated with a couple of political campaigns. Don't worry, I don't get too political on you. Everyone loves a Miles set, and that is what comes next. Then a set of "Moments"; Moments Notice, Stolen Moments, Idle Moments and Bright Moments. Finally something new from a group called Idle Hands, and an album Solid Moments.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album 
Curtis Mayfield ~ Move On Up (extended version) ~ Curtis
Bill Frisell ~ Revolution ~ all we are saying...
Miles Davis ~ Tutu ~ Tutu
Miles Davis ~ Footprints ~ Miles Davis: Birth of the cool (soundtrack)
Miles Davis ~ Round Midnight ~ Round About Midnight
John Coltrane ~ Moments Notice ~ Blue Train
Oliver Nelson ~ Stolen Moments ~ Blues and the Abstract Truth
Blue Note 7 ~ Idle Moments ~ Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note
Rahsaan Roland Kirk ~ Bright Moments ~ Bright Moments
IdleHands ~ Barrelling Through ~ Solid Moments

Except for the opening track (Feel the Bern - Mike Casey), this podcast is all McCoy Tyner. We pay tribute to this iconic jazz pianist that passed away last week. Tyner's influence on modern jazz cannot be overstated. His contribution to this art form will be an indelible part of jazz history.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album 
Mike Casey ~ Feel The Bern ~ single
McCoy Tyner Trio ~ Flying High ~ Infinity
McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Michael Brecker ~ Impressions ~ Infinity
McCoy Tyner ~ Song for My Lady ~ Song for My Lady
McCoy Tyner ~ T 'n A Blues ~ Today and Tomorrow
McCoy Tyner ~ Passion Dance ~ The Real McCoy
McCoy Tyner ~ Sahara ~ Sahara
McCoy Tyner ~ Alone Together ~ Illuminations
McCoy Tyner ~ My Favorite Things ~ Echoes from a Friend
McCoy Tyner ~ Fly With the Wind ~ Fly With the Wind
McCoy Tyner ~ Peresina ~ Expansions

We may be stuck at home ALONE, but TOGETHER through our common love of jazz music, we can will get through this. For many of us music sustains our spirit and enhances our lives. My hope is that this podcast will help to keep you "In The Groove", hip you to new music, and give you comfort with our great jazz standards.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album 
McCoy Tyner ~ Alone Together ~ Illuminations
Jimmy Greene ~ Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most ~ Introducing Jimmy Greene
Ahmad Jamal ~ Stolen Moments ~ The Awakening
Bill Evans Trio ~ Milestones ~ Waltz for Debby
Billy Childs feat. Lisa Fischer ~ Map to the Treasure ~ Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (2014)
Kenny Barron & Dave Holland Trio (feat. Johnathan Blake) ~ I Remeber When ~ Without Deception
Hudson (feat. Dejohnette, Grenadier, Medeski, Scofield) ~ Tony Then Jack ~ Hudson

This In The Groove podcast episode pays tribute to those musicians that have passed due to the coronavirus this past week. It is also dedicated everyone who has been impacted by this pandemic. That has been all of us, in one way or other. Stay safe everyone. That means stay indoors, keep your distance, wash hands, wear face masks. Let the power of music and art help get us through this ordeal.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album
Steve Davis ~ Lovely Day ~ Outlook
The Marsalis Family ~ Sultry Serenade ~ Jazz Celebration
Wallace Roney ~ Around and Through ~ A Place in Time
Bucky Pizzarelli ~ All of Me ~ 5 for Freddie
BIll Withers ~ Lean on Me ~ single
Jimmy Greene ~ No Words ~ While Looking Up
Michael Brecker ~ African Skies ~ Tales From the Hudson
McCoy Tyner Trio (featuring Michael Brecker)  ~ Impressions ~ Infinity 

A mix of jazz music for a beautiful spring day. New music from Connecticut based artists featured within (Escoffery, Barber, Envisage). Please listen for a special message at the end of this episode.

Playlist
Artist ~ Track ~ Album
Sonny Rollins ~ Alfie's Theme ~ Soundtrack from Alfie
Wayne Escoffery ~ Sanctus ~ The Humble Warrior
Jonathan Barber (feat. Vision Ahead) ~ Legacy Holder ~  Single
Jonathan Barber ~ 29 (feat. Vision Ahead) ~ Single
Envisage Collective ~ Step on a Crack ~ Reach Out
McCoy Tyner ~ Mr. P.C. (with John Scofield) ~ Guitars
Roxy Coss ~ Don’t Cross the Coss ~ Quintet
David Liebman ~ Jean Pierre ~ On the Corner Live! The Music of Miles Davis

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent telegrams on Friday to US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggesting the need to rekindle their nations' cooperation during World War II to solve today's problems. Putin's overture was the latest in a series of contacts with Washington with which Moscow is keen to rebuild relations frayed over everything from election hacking allegations to Syria. Ties with London remain badly strained over the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England. The telegrams were among many Putin dispatched to the Soviet Union's World War II allies on the 75th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Europe. Related:   Coronavirus postponed Russia's Victory Day. For Putin, it's a problem. Russia, which marks the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany on May 9, the day after "Victory in Europe" Day, has been forced to scale back commemorations due to the coronavirus. Fiona Hill served as the senior director for European

President Donald Trump wants the Catholic vote. Recently, Trump was on a conference call with several hundred Catholic educators — and many prominent bishops. Trump reportedly described himself as the “best [president] in the history of the Catholic Church.”  In reality, though, there’s a growing rift within the church on support for the president. A number of prominent Catholics are criticizing Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic — and many have been vocal on Twitter. Related:  Coronavirus postponed Russia’s Victory Day. That could be a problem for Putin. Rev. Robert Ballecer, an American priest stationed in the Vatican, has been particularly outspoken. Before he moved to Rome, Ballecer had been living at St. Ignatius College Prep , a Jesuit high school in San Francisco. The Jesuits allowed Ballecer to pursue his Catholic ministry as a host at “ TWiT ,” a podcast network focused on technology . It seemed like a good fit, as Ballecer is a self-described mechanic, engineer and

A slickly produced 26-minute video called Plandemic has exploded on social media in recent days, claiming to present a view of COVID-19 that differs from the "official" narrative. The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against "COVID-19 misinformation." In it, filmmaker Mikki Willis conducts an uncritical interview with Judy Mikovits, who he says has been called "one of the most accomplished scientists of her generation." Never heard of her? You're not alone. Two prominent scientists with backgrounds in AIDS research and infectious diseases, who asked not to be identified over concerns of facing a backlash on social media, told NPR that they did not know who she was. If you were aware of Mikovits before this week, it is probably for two books she published with co-author Kent Heckenlively, one in 2017 and another last month. Heckenlively has also written a book

The Census Bureau says it is continuing the gradual relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in nine states where the coronavirus pandemic forced the hand-delivery of paper forms in rural areas to be suspended in mid-March. On May 13, some local census offices in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are scheduled to restart that fieldwork, according to an updated schedule the bureau published on its website Friday. All workers are expected to be trained in CDC guidance in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and besides a new reusable face mask for every 10 days worked and a pair of gloves for each work day, the bureau has ordered 2 ounces of hand sanitizer for each census worker conducting field operations, the bureau tells NPR in an email. The announcement means more households that receive their mail at post office boxes or drop points are expected to find paper questionnaires left outside their

This is part of a series looking at pressing coronavirus questions of the week. We'd like to hear what you're curious about. Email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." More than 76,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19, and there have been 1.27 million confirmed cases across the country — and nearly 4 million worldwide. Though the virus continues to spread and sicken people, some states and countries are starting to reopen businesses and lift stay-at-home requirements. This week, we look at some of your questions as summer nears and restrictions are eased. Is it safe to swim in pools or lakes? Does the virus spread through the water? People are asking whether they should be concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while swimming. Experts say water needn't be a cause for concern. The CDC says there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water

The Pan American Health Organization this week warned of an impending humanitarian crisis in Haiti due to the coronavirus pandemic. Haiti has reported relatively few cases of COVID-19 but it shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, which is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks in the hemisphere. With the Dominican Republic under lockdown, thousands of laid off migrant workers have headed home to Haiti and presumably some of them are carrying the virus with them. "There is real danger of a large-scale outbreak followed by a humanitarian crisis in Haiti," said Carissa Etienne, the head of PAHO, in a briefing this week with reporters. She said Haiti's health-care system is ill-equipped to deal with an outbreak of a highly-infectious, potentially-fatal respiratory disease. And the measures used elsewhere to stem the spread of COVID-19 are impractical or impossible in Haiti. "It is extremely difficult to institute proper social distancing in Haiti," she said —