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

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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PIANO PEOPLE AND MORE: JASON MORAN & HEATH ALLEN

May 31st, 2023

Jazz pianist Jason Moran started out in Houston playing classical music, but found his way to jazz through Thelonious Monk. We’ll learn more about his adventures in the NYC jazz scene. Then a conversation and tour around the piano with Philadelphia cabaret player and creator Heath Allen, plus music from Fats Waller, Jerry Lee Lewis, Herbie Hancock, and Sweet Emma.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Moran Tonk Circa 1936 Jason Moran
    Modernistic, Blue Note
  • Cane River Jimmy Witherspoon
    The Bluesville Years - Volume One: Big Blues Honks and Wails, Prestige/Fantasy
  • If You Love Me Like You Say Albert Collins
    Collins Mix, The Best of…, Virgin
  • Jelly Roll Charles Mingus
    Mingus Ah-Um, Columbia/Legacy
  • Dancers in Love Duke Ellington
    Piano Reflections, Capitol Jazz
  • Houston Jump Floyd Dixon
    Cow Town Blues: The Seminal 1948-1950, Ace
  • Instrumental: Chica Boo Lloyd Glenn
    Essential Blues Piano, HOB
  • SEGMENT: Jason Moran

    Listen
  • Dust My Broom Cassandra Wilson
    Loverly, Blue Note
  • Tou' Les Jours C'est Pas La Meme (Every Day Is Not the Same) Carol Fran
    Our New Orleans 2005: A Benefit Album, Nonesuch
  • Instrumental: Lutcher's Leap Nellie Lutcher
    Nelly Lutcher and Her Rhythm, Bear Family
  • Texas Woman Blues Taj Mahal
    The Essential Taj Mahal , Columbia/Legacy
  • Twin Guitar Boogie Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
    For the Last Time, Liberty
  • Sweet Texas Rose Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
    Down South in the Bayou Country , Sunnyside
  • Any-Kind-of-Man Victoria Spivey and Her Chicago Four
    Blues Masters Vol. 11: Classic Blues Woman, Rhino
  • Old Man Blues Mose Allison
    Gimcracks and Gewgaws, Blue Note
  • Lucky Old Sun Jerry Lee Lewis
    Sun Classics , Charly
  • End Bed: Rock House Parts 1 & 2 Ray Charles
    The Birth of Soul, Atlantic

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Smashin' Thirds Fats Waller
    At the Piano (Bluebird’s Best Series), BMG
  • Piano Man Billy Eckstine and Count Basie
    Basie/Eckstine, Inc, Roulette
  • Must Have Been the Devil Otis Spann
    The Blues Never Die, Blues Classics
  • Funny How Time Slips Away Dr. John
    Things Happen That Way , Rounder
  • Instrumental: Piano Roll Blues Little Willie Littlefield
    The Red One, Oldie Blues
  • Watermelon Man Herbie Hancock
    Takin’ Off, Blue Note
  • St. Louis Blues Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder
    Gershwin’s World , Verve
  • Ragged but Right Moon Mullican
    I’ll Sail My Ship Alone, Gusto
  • I'll Sail My Ship Alone Linda Gail Lewis
    Moon and Stars, Velcor
  • Old Kidney Stew Eddie Vinson
    Kidney Stew Is Fine, Delmark
  • None of My Jelly Roll Sweet Emma Barrett
    Sweet Emma Barrett and her New Orleans Music, GHB Records
  • Gumbo Blues Smiley Lewis
    Presenting Smiley Lewis, Universal
  • Instrumental: Nowhere to Go Allen Toussaint
    The Wild Sounds of New Orleans,
  • SEGMENT: Heath Allen

    Listen
  • Closing bed: My Blue Heaven Mary Lou Williams
    Black Christ of the Andes, Smithsonian Folkways

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 7th, 2023

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

    Listen
  • May 31st, 2023

    PIANO PEOPLE AND MORE: JASON MORAN & HEATH ALLEN

    Listen
  • May 24th, 2023

    MEMORIAL DAY WITH THE 2022 NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOWS

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