FHubbardIn the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. With Cyril Neville For the Martin Luther King holiday we honor his spirit and struggle with African American spirituals, protest anthems, freedom jazz and soul power. New Orleans musician and activist Cyril Neville tells of growing up with Mardi Gras Indian rituals and street music and the importance of both to Black community life in the city. From our archives, the late jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard talks free form music and freedom of expression. Plus, Bob Dylan gives voice to the social unrest of the Sixties. Cellist and singer Leyla McCalla, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, reprises “The Capitalist Blues” for a new generation. And Big Mama Thornton brings a musical storm tide with her defiantly upbeat take on “Wade in the Water.” Be in that number with American Routes for MLK Day weekend!

American Routes airs Fridays at noon on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

(Photo: Freddy Hubbard – via American Routes)

cliff ar jan10We travel to Jamaica and Cuba, with connections in NY and New Orleans. Singer Jimmy Cliff is the global reggae star whose career was launched a half century ago by the iconic film and soundtrack, The Harder They Come. We talk with him about his start in the early days of Jamaican recorded music and his work to make the world a better place for everyone. Then Bandleader and pianist Arturo O’Farrill shares his family heritage in Afro-Latin jazz and a recent project playing music of all kinds on the US side of the Mexican border at the Fandango at the Wall. Plus, music from around the Caribbean and Gulf South with Toots and the Maytals, Machito and Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr.

American Routes airs Fridays at noon on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

(Photo: Jimmy Cliff – via American Routes)

boz ar Jan03We trace stardom back to its source, traversing the roots and routes that led small town musicians to national fame. Pop icon Boz Scaggs and the late Cajun honky-tonk man Jimmy C. Newman took very different paths to the stage but carried with them the sounds they grew up hearing. Boz Scaggs achieved mainstream success with his own platinum records as well as his work with Steve Miller and Duane Allman. We talk to him about his 6+ years performing on the road and how he came into his own by reconnecting with the blues he heard as a kid in “Nowhere, Texas.” Then, we remember the late Jimmy C. Newman, who took the sounds of French Louisiana to the Grand Ole Opry and put Cajun music and culture on the map. Son Gary Newman, producer Joel Savoy and musician Kelli Jones tell of his legacy and their tribute album, Farewell, Alligator Man. Plus, we trace Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya” back to its Cajun origins, served up with tunes from Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and Professor Longhair.

American Routes airs Fridays at noon on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

(Photo: Boz Scaggs - Via American Routes)

99c881d1 ar dec25It’s time to celebrate the New Year with live music from the French Quarter including the Rebirth Brass Band, jazz with Leroy Jones ...and Ellis Marsalis, Little Freddie King’s country blues, funk from Jon Cleary... and songs from Charmaine Neville. Start the New Year right with American Routes!

American Routes airs Fridays at noon on KRCB-FM Radio 91 / streaming @ norcalpublicmedia.org / Download the FREE KRCB App @ iTunes & Google Play!

(Photo: via American Routes)

  1. Winter Holiday: Solstice, Hanukkah, Xmas, and Kwanzaa on American Routes – Friday at Noon
  2. It’s A Special American Routes for our Holiday Cheer & End of Year Fundraiser – Friday at Noon
  3. Breaking Out: British Blues to New Orleans Bounce on American Routes – Friday at Noon
  4. This Week on American Routes: National Heritage Fellows 2019 – Friday at Noon
  5. The Black Keys, Robert Finley & Luke Winslow King on American Routes – Friday at Noon
  6. This Week on American Routes, Songs of Rivers and Mountains: Joan Shelley & Jeff Little – Friday at Noon

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American Routes

May 07, 2021

Guilty Pleasures Deluxe on American Routes – Saturday at 2pm  

Somewhere on our journey over the past two decades at American Routes, we started talking about “guilty pleasures” shows, where old free form radio roots called for the pleasure of old favorites and new discoveries. But since we broadcast from New Orleans, we’ll drop the word guilty and roll on…
April 30, 2021

Soul Sisters on American Routes – Saturday at 2pm  

We talk to three soul singers from the formative era of the mid-1950s through Motown of the late 60s, and an all-female New Orleans brass band. Justine “Baby” Washington talks about growing up in Harlem and her hits such as “That’s How Heartaches Are Made.” Maxine Brown started as a teenager in NYC…
March 26, 2021

Sweet Inspiration: Dan Penn & Trudy Lynn on American Routes – Saturday at 2pm

Singer-Songwriter Dan Penn is the master behind so many well-loved R&B songs, from James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet” to Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” and Alex Chilton and the Box Tops “Cry Like a Baby,” and many more. We’ll talk with him about his prolific catalog of…

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