AMERICAN ROUTES
May the Fourth Be With Us! American Routes Independence Day Then & Now May the Fourth Be With Us! American Routes Independence Day Then & Now June 29th, 2022 (Hour 1)
May the Fourth Be With Us! American Routes Independence Day Then & Now

This July 4th weekend, we dive into the record crates to bring you music of celebration, hope and critique from Nina Simone, Randy Newman, Sly Stone and Jon Batiste. Then, the July 4th roots of American Routes as we go back to the 1990s, deep in the archive, for highlights from The American Roots Independence Day concerts at the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Join us for spectacular stage performances by the urbane blues hero Charles Brown, the Texas Playboys with Johnny Gimble playing Western swing, Mexican-American Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Young Tuxedo Brass with New Orleans jazz, and Hawaiian music and song of slack-key guitar master Ledward Kaapana.

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EASTER WITH DONALD HARRISON, JR. AND THE HOLMES BROTHERS

April 8th, 2009

Easter weekend is a time for reflection and family, and our guests certainly fit the bill. Donald Harrison, Jr. is a saxophone player and New Orleans native now based in New York. Harrison’s ties to New Orleans run deep, musically and culturally. His work has long echoed strains of Mardi Gras Indian chants and street beats… not surprisingly as his late father was Big Chief of the Guardians of the Flame tribe, a position Donald Jr. has since assumed. Wendell and Sherman Holmes, plus longtime friend Popsy Dixon make up the Holmes Brothers, a vocal group best known for putting their personal stamp on blues, gospel, country, pop and more. The brothers join us to talk about the transition from Christ Church, Virginia to New York and back again to home and family.

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: I'll Fly Away The Holmes Brothers
    Jubilation , Real World
  • Easter Bunny Boogie Willie Brown
    Jumpin' the Blues , Ace
  • Jesus on the Main Line (Tell Him What You Want) The New Birth Brass Band
    D-Boy, NYNO
  • Old Rugged Cross Rahsaan Roland Kirk
    Does Your House Have Lions, Rhino/Atlantic
  • Standing Here Wondering Which Way to Go Marion Williams
    Born to Sing the Gospel, Shanachie
  • Were You There? Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers
    Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers, Specialty
  • You Gotta Move Sam Cooke
    Night Beat , RCA
  • Instrumental: Will The Circle Be Unbroken Lonnie 'Big Ben' Bennett
    Sacred Steel Instrumentals , Arhoolie
  • Life's Railway to Heaven Johnny Cash
    Personal File , Columbia/Legacy
  • Gospel Ship The Carter Family
    In the Shadow of Clinch Mountain , Bear Family
  • Christian Automobile Sons of Andros
    The Bahamas: Islands of Song , Smithsonian Folkways
  • Move Along Train Marty Stuart with Mavis Staples
    Soul's Chapel , Superlatone
  • Instrumental: My Last Date King Curtis
    The Capitol Years, 1962-1965, Bear Family
  • SEGMENT: Holmes Brothers

    Listen
  • How I Got Over Aretha Franklin
    Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings , Rhino/Atlantic
  • When the Saints Go Marching In Kings of Harmony
    Saints' Paradise: Trombone Shout Bands from the United House of Prayer , Smithsonian Folkways
  • Tipitina Allen Toussaint
    American Routes Original Recording,

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Spirits of Congo Square Donald Harrison
    Spirits of Congo Square , Candid
  • Up Jumped Spring Art Blakey
    Jazz Profile: Art Blakey , Blue Note
  • April in My Heart Billie Holiday
    Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933 - 1944, Columbia/Legacy
  • (I've Got) Spring Fever Little Willie John
    All 15 of His Chart Hits , King
  • Easter Parade Fats Domino
    Out of New Orleans , Bear Family
  • Instrumental: Echoes of Spring Tom McDermott
    The Crave , STR
  • SEGMENT: Donald Harrison

    Listen
  • I'm Puttin' All of My Eggs in One Basket Ella & Louis
    The Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve , Verve
  • San Antonio Rose Willie Nelson & Ray Price
    San Antonio Rose , Columbia
  • Instrumental: Texas Blues Vassar Clements, Doug Jernigan, Michael Melford
    Hillbilly Jazz , Flying Fish
  • Will the Roses Bloom Flatt & Scruggs
    Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs: 1948 - 1959 , Bear Family
  • When the Roses Bloom Again Laura Cantrell
    When the Roses Bloom Again , Diesel Only
  • Dress Blues Drive-By Truckers
    Live Performance from Minnesota Public Radio's The Current,
  • Down by the Riverside Cowboy Roy Brown
    Street Singer , Delmark
  • Down by the Riverside Don Vappie
    Pappa Don's New Orleans Jazz Band , Vapielle
  • End Bed: Amazing Grace Donald Harrison
    Nouveau Swing , Impulse

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 29th, 2022

    MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH US! AMERICAN ROUTES INDEPENDENCE DAY THEN & NOW

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  • June 22nd, 2022

    EARL SCRUGGS & TOM RUSH

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  • June 15th, 2022

    SOUNDS OF FREEDOM: FONTELLA BASS AND FREDDIE HUBBARD

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