Enlarge this image Tom Smith performing on Dec. 13, 2013 in Jacksonville, Fla. Patrick Spurlock for NPR Patrick Spurlock for NPR Tom Smith, a relentless musical experimenter and prominent figure in the international noise scene for decades, died on January 20 in Hanover, Germany. He was 65. His partner, Claudia Franke, confirmed to NPR that the cause was colon cancer. As word of Smith's passing spread, friends and colleagues — including Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, Pylon's Vanessa Hay, and Matmos' Drew Daniel --shared tributes on social media. On Instagram, Moore called Smith a "beyond-post-punk noise provocateur and visionary," while writer Byron Coley described him on Twitter as "a big lunk, impossible to handle and ...

Enlarge this image The members of C4 Trio, L-R: Rodner Padilla, Edward Ramírez, Héctor Molina and Jorge Glem José Blanco /Courtesy of GroundUP Music José Blanco /Courtesy of GroundUP Music The Venezuelan group C4 Trio has taken the national instrument of their homeland, the four-string cuatro, to new heights. They've recorded seven albums, collaborated with singer Rubén Blades and, in 2019, won two Latin Grammys for their album with salsa singer Luis Enrique, Tiempo al Tiempo. The title of a new book about C4, written by Venezuelan journalist Gerardo Guarache Ocque, sums up the essence of the singular group: La Leyenda de los Cuatros Explosivos. The group — composed of cuatro players Edward Ramírez, Héctor Molina and ...

After performing six nights a week for nearly four decades, Los Angeles musician Marty Roberts has died. He was half of the husband-and-wife duo Marty & Elayne. AILSA CHANG, HOST: The jazz and lounge music world has lost one of its most iconic personalities. Marty Roberts, one half of the married lounge act Marty & Elayne, died last week at 89. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: For decades, the duo performed five or six nights a week, Marty on drums and vocals, Elayne on piano and flute. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SWINGERS") MARTY AND ELAYNE: (Singing) You can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man - no time to talk. KELLY: They were fixtures at the Los Angeles bar and restaurant the Dresden Room, where they played an eclectic mix of jazz standards, original numbers and their own twists on pop hits. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SWINGERS") MARTY AND ELAYNE: (Singing) Staying alive - ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive. CHANG: That rendition of "Stayin' Alive," a cameo in the 1996 movie "Swingers," shot them into pop ...

Enlarge this image Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage Blessed with a soaring, church-built vocal range that's often compared to Ray Charles, Chris Pierce has been all over the scene for the past 15 years. Discovered by Seal while attending USC, the indie, folk and blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has kept the rubber hot, touring 150 days a year while sharing the stage with such artists as Jill Scott, Al Green, Robert Cray, and Toots and the Maytals. Making his first Mountain Stage appearance, recorded at the Culture Center Theater in Charleston, S.C., Pierce shared power-packed songs from a new, critically acclaimed album titled American Silence. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and vocals, Pierce carved the words of that album's title track into the bones, singing of the American posture – complacency – in addressing and dealing with race issues: "Can we sing a song for you? / Will ...