Here’s what I’m listening to right now. Also known as “what you’re listening to right now.” You’re welcome. That’s Paganini’s Allegro vivace a movimento perpetuo. But it’s not your grandfather’s Paganini. For that, I give you Gil Shaham, “The Traditionalist.” Here’s a slightly less traditional (but really fun) version from Wynton Marsalis. But wait. There’s more. That version (and the first track, as well) are from Béla Fleck’s“Perpetual Motion” album, which is a real blast. It won the 44th Annual... Read more

This is exactly what I needed today. Exactly. That’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African choral group most recognized for their work on Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” And the sound of their singing is astonishingly joyful. Which means it’s hard for me to think of a group more fitted to sing a song about the passing away of sorrow and suffering and death. Inspiring. Perhaps even more inspirational, though, is the fact that their joy is coming from a place of very... Read more

This “Morning Edition” piece on Missouri’s singing nuns is almost impossibly charming. Almost. When the sisters of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles aren’t hard at work on the monastery grounds, they’re topping the charts with albums of sacred music. The group’s Angels and Saints at Epheseus topped the Billboard classical charts, and now it’s releasing its latest, Lent at Epheseus. … “The CDs are something that God has allowed to happen,” Mother Cecilia says. “It’s a wonderful thing insofar as it brings souls closer to... Read more