World Cafe : World Cafe Words and Music Podcast : NPR
World Cafe : World Cafe Words and Music Podcast : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/11/nx-s1-5711387/how-technology-amplified-black-music-cultural-exchange
Publish Date: 2026-02-11 12:16:00
Source Domain: www.npr.org
American jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in concert in Deauville (Normandy, France) on July 20, 1991.
Roland Godefroy/Wikimedia Commons
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Roland Godefroy/Wikimedia Commons
Featured Songs
- Mongo Santamaría, “Cloud Nine”
- Dizzy Gillespie, “Manteca”
- Bo Diddley, “Bo Diddley”
- Fela Kuti, “Water No Get Enemy”
To celebrate Black History Month, World Cafe correspondent John Morrison has a new weekly series on the music of the African diaspora.
This week, he’s talking about the cultural exchange that happens between various Black music communities and traditions.
“It’s important and it’s empowering for us to realize that our differences and similarities alike can keep us connected regardless of where we are from or where we are,” Morrison says.
Plus, he’ll get into how the advent of recording technology has impacted Black music.
“Making records — the emergence of the record industry itself — sped up and accelerated this process of cultural exchange in unimaginable ways,” he says.
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe’s engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
