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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AMERICAN ROUTES ON INSTAGRAM

DON'T SCANDALIZE MY NAME

February 17th, 2010

From Pretty Polly and Poor Ellen Smith to Lil’ Liza Jane and Old Joe Clark, this American Routes deals with the nomenclature of music. We’ll chat with a man many of you might know, and learn what it’s like to grow up as John Smith. Plus, the San Antonio native and leader of the barnstorming 1950’s band Mando & the Chili Peppers tells us how he took a turn from Tejano music to rock n’ roll and ended up in Las Vegas with a stage name that stuck. And learn more about Jody, that shadowy figure that’s got your girl and gone.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Tipitina Allen Toussaint
    American Routes Original Recording,
  • Tipitina Professor Longhair
    'Fess: The Professor Longhair Anthology, Rhino
  • Lewis Boogie Jerry Lee Lewis
    Classic Jerry Lee Lewis, Bear Family
  • Sadie Green Big T Tyler w/Earl Palmer
    Backbeat: The World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Drummer, Ace
  • Sadie Green (She's the Vamp of New Orleans) Roy Newman and His Boys
    Western Swing and Cowboy Jazz, JSP
  • Don't Scandalize My Name Bill 'Jazz' Gillum
    The Bluebird Recordings, 1934-1938, RCA
  • Puddin' n' Tain The Kit Kats
    Philly Doo-Wop Classics, Jamie/Guyden
  • Barnacle Bill the Sailor Louis Prima w/Keely Smith
    Breaking It Up!, Columbia/Legacy
  • Instrumental: Sweet Loraine Sidney Bechet
    Ken Burns Jazz, Columbia/Legacy
  • SEGMENT: James and Troy Andrews on nicknames

    Listen
  • Lil' Liza Jane James and Troy Andrew w/Dr. John
    12 & Shorty, Keep Swingin'
  • Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley Lee Dorsey
    Yes We Can / Night People, Raven
  • Ophelia The Band
    The Band: A Musical History, EMI
  • Instrumental: Crying Steel Chuck Berry
    The Chess Box, MCA
  • Lena Mae Lawrence Walker
    Lafayette Saturday Night, Ace
  • Carol Chuck Berry
    His Best, Vol. 1, MCA/Chess
  • SEGMENT: Mando Cavallero

    Listen
  • Congo Mambo Mando & the Chili Peppers
    On the Road With Rock and Roll, Ace
  • Farmer John The Premiers
    Brown-Eyed Soul, Vol. 2, Rhino
  • Mr. Brown Bob Marley and the Wailers
    Trenchtown Rock: The Anthology 1969-78, Trojan

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: The Jody Grind (Pt.1) Horace Silver
    Blue 45s: The Ultimate Jukebox, Blue Note
  • Jody Benny Richardson and Group of the Ellis Unit
    Wake Up Dead Man, Rounder
  • Jody's Got Your Girl And Gone Johnnie Taylor
    Lifetime: A Retrospective of Soul, Blues & Gospel, 1956-1999, Stax
  • Hey Joe Jimi Hendrix
    Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix, MCA
  • Ezekiel Saw the Wheel Golden Gate Quartet
    The Very Best of the Golden Gate Quartet, Capitol
  • I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Some Day Fats Domino
    Out of New Orleans, Bear Family
  • Hello Josephine Snooks Eaglin
    Soul's Edge, Black Top
  • Josephine par se ma femme (Josephine is not my wife) Clifton Chenier
    King of the Bayous,
  • Instrumental: Corrine, Corrina Chet Atkins
    Galloping Guitar, Bear Family
  • Corrine Corrina Big Joe Turner
    Big, Bad & Blue: The Big Joe Turner Anthology, Rhino
  • Corrine Corrina Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
    San Antonio Rose, Bear Family
  • SEGMENT: Tom Sawyer

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  • Mississippi Sawyer Man Curt and Irene Blackwell
    Field recording by Nick Spitzer,
  • Jim Dandy Rose Maddox
    The One Rose, Bear Family
  • Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line John Doe
    Lonesome, On'ry and Mean: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings, Dualtone
  • Instrumental: Rory Mae Kid Future
    Fonotone Records 1956-1969, Dust to Digital
  • SEGMENT: John Smith

    Listen
  • Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues Bob Dylan
    No Direction Home: The Soundtrack, The Bootleg Series Vol.7, Columbia
  • Dink's Blues Jack McDuff
    The Honeydripper, Prestige

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

    Listen
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