AMERICAN ROUTES
Blues and Jazz, African Roots and Branches with Shemekia Copeland and Balla Kouyaté Blues and Jazz, African Roots and Branches with Shemekia Copeland and Balla Kouyaté June 7th, 2023 (Hour 1)
Blues and Jazz, African Roots and Branches with Shemekia Copeland and 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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ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

June 20th, 2007

It’s summertime and the living’s easy. Jump in as we hit the road in search of new faces and places. Head north out of New Orleans, across Lake Pontchartrain, to the Abita Mystery House and UCM Museum in Abita Springs. And, much further north, to the Musical Wonder House in Wiscasset, Maine. Plus, a refreshing visit to a local New Orleans favorite, Hansen’s Sno-Bliz, where they’re still servin’ up the best sno-cones you’ve ever tasted.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Motorin' Along Jimmy Smith
    Home Cookin', Blue Note
  • Roamin' Blues Louis Jordan
    Let the Good Times Roll: 1938-1954, Bear Family
  • Motorhead Baby Johnny 'Guitar' Watson
    Gangster of Love, King Masters
  • Looking at the World Thru a Windshield Del Reeves
    On the Road Again: 20 Great Truck Drivin' Hits, Deluxe
  • Oooh Las Vegas Gram Parsons w/Emmylou Harris
    The Complete Reprise Sessions, Rhino
  • CC Rider (Undubbed) Charlie Rich
    Lonely Weekends: The Best of the Sun Years, AVI
  • Old Black Mattie Junior Kimbrough
    Sad Days, Lonely Nights, Fat Possum
  • Instrumental: Wilson Rag Elizabeth Cotton
    Freight Train and Other North Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes, Folkways
  • Key to Highway Warner Williams w/Jay Summerour
    Blues Highway, Smithsonian Folkways
  • Motorpsycho Nitemare Bob Dylan
    Another Side of Bob Dylan, Columbia
  • May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister? Hank Thompson
    Hank Thompson & The Brazos Valley Boys, Bear Family
  • Can I Sleep in Your Arms Willie Nelson
    Red Headed Stranger, Columbia
  • Tomorrow is a Long Time Nickel Creek
    Why Should the Fire Die?, Sugar Hill
  • Instrumental: Stars and Stripes
    Regina Drum Table Music Box Vol.2, Musical Wonder House
  • INTERVIEW: Musical Wonder House in Maine

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  • Summer Song Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong
    Vocal Encounters, Columbia/Legacy

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: In The Good Old Summertime George Lewis
    Classic New Orleans Jazz Vol.1, Biograph
  • Down the Road a Piece Amos Milburn
    Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie Woogie: 1946-1956, Capitol
  • House of Blue Lights Merrill Moore
    Boogie My Blues Away, Bear Family
  • Across the Alley from the Alamo The Mills Brothers
    The Best of the Decca Years, MCA
  • Across the Alley from the Alamo Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
    The Tiffany Transcriptions, Vol. 4, Edsel
  • Home in San Antone Johnny Bush
    Guitar Player Presents Legends of Guitar - Country, Vol. 2, Rhino
  • Travelin' Blues Dave Brubeck and Carmen McRae
    Vocal Encounters, Columbia/Legacy
  • Motorin' Along Jimmy Smith
    Home Cookin', Blue Note
  • Instrumental: Promised Land Mose Allison
    Back Country Suite, Prestige
  • INTERVIEW: UCM Museum in Louisiana

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  • Gotta Travel On Jerry Lee Lewis w/Linda Gail Lewis
    The Locust Years and the Return to the Promised Land, Bear Family
  • Born to Be Wild Wilson Pickett
    Blues & Soul Power, Warner UK
  • Route 90 Clarence Garlow
    Texas Rhythm and Blues, Ace
  • Instrumental: High Society George Lewis
    Ice Cream, Delmark
  • INTERVIEW: Hansen's Sno-Bliz in New Orleans

    Listen
  • I Scream, You Scream Mahogany Brass Band
    Best of the Brass Bands, Sound of New Orleans
  • Summertime Sam Cooke
    The Best of Sam Cooke, RCA/Legacy
  • Basin Street Blues Peggy Lee
    Blues Cross Country, Capitol Jazz
  • End Bed: Basin Street Blues Henry Butler
    American Routes original recording,

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 7th, 2023

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

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  • May 31st, 2023

    PIANO PEOPLE AND MORE: JASON MORAN & HEATH ALLEN

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  • May 24th, 2023

    MEMORIAL DAY WITH THE 2022 NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWS

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