For the enslaved Africans, music – rhythm in particular – became a tool of communication about their conditions. Later, it laid the foundation for spirituals and gospel songs.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with music critic Nate Chinen about the legacy of iconic jazz Hammond organ player Joey DeFrancesco, who died on Thursday. The jazz world has lost its preeminent specialist of ...

Brian Ho began playing piano at the early age of five taking lessons at both Stanford and San Jose State. By the age of sixteen, he began to play in bands professionally and started teaching piano.

Jazz Times once hailed Joey DeFrancesco as "the best B3 player on the planet." For obvious reasons. DeFrancesco died Thursday. He was 51. His label Mack Avenue confirmed the news on its website and ...

Matthew Kaminski is a rare breed. He’s a musician who performs for a crowd of 40,000 people at least 81 times a year. That’s because Kaminski is the Atlanta Braves (Major League Baseball) organist and ...

The Hammond organ – it's heavy, it's hard to move, you basically become a lifelong van owner if you play one, and I've often said, "If your back doesn't hurt – it doesn't sound right." But I have to ...

The enslaved Africans who first arrived in the British colony of Virginia in 1619 after being forcefully removed from their natural environments left much behind, but their rhythms associated with ...

Tributes are pouring in for Lonnie Smith, the Hammond B-3 organ virtuoso who has died at the age of 79. The NEA Jazz Master of 2017 passed away in his home in Florida from pulmonary fibrosis, his ...

Tori Amos packed lightly for her "Original Sinsuality Tour." The songstress is supporting her latest record, the religiously themed "The Beekeeper," with an intimate solo acoustic tour. When she plays ...

J. Spencer Hammond, former longtime minister of music, organist and choir director at Douglas Memorial Community Church who also taught music in the city public schools for more than three decades, ...