Tom Cole
Tom Cole is a senior editor on NPR's Arts Desk. He develops, edits, produces, and reports on stories about art, culture, music, film, and theater for NPR's news magazines Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, and All Things Considered. Cole has held these responsibilities since February 1990.
Prior to his work with the Arts Desk, Cole worked for three and a half years as an associate producer for NPR's daily classical music program Performance Today, and also for Morning Edition, where he coordinated, edited, and produced arts and culture stories.
From April 1979 to July 1986, Cole worked for NPR Member station WAMU-FM in Washington, DC. He was the production manager for the daily operation of studios, and also served as a reporter, writing and producing music features that were broadcast locally and nationally. In addition, from October 1985 to November 1986, Cole worked for Voice of America as a producer for VOA Europe.
Since 1977, Cole has been the host and producer of a weekly three-hour program of music and interviews broadcast on public radio station WPFW-FM in Washington.
Over the course of his career, Cole has produced or collaborated on a number of public radio projects. He co-edited the Peabody Award-winning NPR documentary, "I Must Keep Fightin': The Art of Paul Robeson." He was also an advisor, contributor, and co-editor of the Peabody Award-winning series, "The NPR 100," the top 100 songs of the 20th century.
A native of Washington, DC, Cole has studied classical guitar at The American University and privately. He also studied comparative literature at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.
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A look back at the innovative and influential career of Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch. -
The seminal Scottish folk guitarist, singer, and composer passed early Wednesday morning after a battle with lung cancer. -
The great British guitarist returns after a 12-year hiatus with the entrancing "Palermo Snow." The song's Arabic/Mediterranean sound evokes the tune's inspiration: a rare snowfall in Palermo, Sicily, when Renbourn was there for a concert. -
What is a song's "hook?" It's that part that sticks in your mind -- whether you want it to or not.
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Sandy Denny became the queen of British folk rock when she joined the band Fairport Convention in 1968. Her fans included Robert Plant and Nina Simone. Denny was a skilled songwriter with a powerful and expressive voice, yet today many people don't recognize her name. -
Swedish singer Victoria Bergsman, who records as Taken by Trees, went to Pakistan to make her second album, East of Eden. The result does not sound like another ersatz "world-music" collaboration. Instead, she and producer/guitarist/engineer Andreas Soderstrom take melodies and rhythms recorded there and build on them to create their own songs. Hear the album in its entirety, a week before its Sept. 8 release.
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At the record store, Tom Cole spent most of his time warding off scornful looks as he toted Mothers of Invention LPs around. One day, he decided he needed to learn about jazz. A clerk at Discount Records and Books in Washington, D.C., suggested these five records. No standards; just his absolute favorites. -
Singer, guitarist and composer John Martyn was a folkie with a jazz soul. The accomplished and innovative guitarist got his start as a teenager in Britain's thriving folk scene and continued to evolve his sound throughout his career. Martyn died Thursday at a hospital in Ireland.
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He was born in 1908, the year Henry Ford introduced the Model T. At age 100, Elliott Carter is still composing music. Today, he continues to amaze, and occasionally confound, his fans and critics. -
Music has played an important role in the Gulf region and the Mississippi delta, often elaborating on stories of natural and man-made disasters. The music has borne testament to upheaval over the centuries.
