AMERICAN ROUTES
Blues and Jazz, African Roots and Branches with Shemekia Copeland & Balla Kouyaté Blues and Jazz, African Roots and Branches with Shemekia Copeland & Balla Kouyaté May 18th, 2022 (Hour 1)
Blues and Jazz, African Roots and Branches with Shemekia Copeland & Balla Kouyaté

It’s Blueswomen, Jazzmen, African roots and branches. Chicago blues singer Shemekia Copeland‘s father, the late blues guitarist Johnny Copeland, brought her into his music as a child. As an adult, she found new ways to use blues to express her perspective. We’ll hear from some of Shemekia’s heroes including Etta James, Ruth Brown, Alberta Hunter and Big Mama Thornton. Then a conversation and performance by Boston-based Mandinka balafon player Balla Kouyaté and music inspired by and from the continent of Africa from Randy Weston, Miriam Makeba and the Modern Jazz Quartet.

Shemekia Copeland photo by Mike White

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BREAKING OUT: BRITISH BLUES TO NEW ORLEANS BOUNCE

May 11th, 2022

From Great Britain to the Big Easy, we explore the sounds of musical and social breakouts. First, we hear how British blues pioneer John Mayall broke out of England with his band the Bluesbreakers, bringing British blues to a larger audience. We’ll hear some of Mayall’s sources and contemporaries, like Big Maceo and Eric Clapton. Then, it’s butt shakes and backbeats with Big Freedia, the Queen Diva of New Orleans Bounce, a rhythmic dance music with sources in hip hop and rap, as well as much earlier jazz and R&B. We’ll explore some of those sources, and strut with Kermit Ruffins and Sam Morgan, head “Down Yonder” with Smiley Lewis, and “Take it to the Street” with Rebirth Brass Band.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Hideaway John Mayall with Eric Clapton
    Bluesbreakers, Decca
  • Hit the Highway John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
    A Hard Road, Decca
  • Worried Life Blues Mig Maceo
    Big Maceo - The King of the Chicago Blues Piano Vol. 1, Blues Classics
  • Feeling Good J.B. Lenoir
    Down In Mississippi, L+R Records
  • Shout for Joy Albert Ammons
    Albert Ammons Boogie Woogie, Boogie Woogie
  • Room to Move John Mayall
    The Turning Point, Polydor
  • Instrumental: Blues City Shakedown John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
    Crocodile Walk / Blues City Shakedown, Decca
  • Crocodile Walk John Wayall
    John Mayall Plays John Mayall, Decca
  • Ramblin' on My Mind John Mayall with Eric Clapton
    Bluesbreakers, Decca
  • Outside Woman Blues Cream
    Disraeli Gears, Reaction
  • We Gotta Get Out of this Place The Animals
    We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Columbia
  • SEGMENT: John Mayall

    Listen
  • Instrumental: The Stumble John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
    A Hard Road, Decca
  • Good Times Boogie John Mayall
    Jazz blues Fusion, Polydor
  • End Bed: Boogie Albert John Mayall
    Back To The Roots, Polydor

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: N.O. Bounce Big Freedia
    Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Smithsonian Folkways
  • Bogalusa Strut Sam Morgan's Jazz Band
    Short Dress Gal / Bogalusa Strut, Columbia
  • Buddy Bolden's Blues (I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say) Jelly Roll Morton
    Last Sessions, RCA Victor
  • Palm Court Strut Kermit Ruffins
    Big Easy, Basin Street Records
  • Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus Raymond Miles | The Gospel Soul Children
    Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Smithsonian Folkways
  • Take It to the Street Rebirth Brass Band
    Take It To The Street, Rounder
  • Instrumental: Ease Back The Meters
    Funkify Your Life, Rhino
  • SEGMENT: Big Freedia

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Olde Wine AFO Executives
    Gumbo Stew (Original AFO New Orleans R&B), Ace
  • The Big Beat Fats Domino
    Fats Domino, Liberty
  • Lawdy Miss Clawdy Lloyd Price And His Orchestra
    Lawdy Miss Clawdy / Mailman Blues, Specialty
  • The Monkey Dave Bartholomew
    The Monkey, Imperial
  • Down Yonder (We Go Ballin') Smiley Lewis
    The Cosimo Matassa Story, Proper
  • End Bed: Chicken Strut The Meters
    Chicken Strut, Josie

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • May 18th, 2022

    BLUES AND JAZZ, AFRICAN ROOTS AND BRANCHES WITH SHEMEKIA COPELAND & BALLA KOUYATé

    Listen
  • May 11th, 2022

    BREAKING OUT: BRITISH BLUES TO NEW ORLEANS BOUNCE

    Listen
  • May 4th, 2022

    KINGPINS OF THE GULF COAST: RODNEY CROWELL & DR. JOHN

    Listen
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