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…

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…

Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock has made a career of being a musical explorer, playing across genres from soul and funk to folk and rock and breaking down musical barriers along the way. Then we visit with mandolin virtuoso Rhonda Vincent, who shares tales of traveling with the family bluegrass band…

There is no more recognizable family name in jazz from New Orleans and beyond than: Marsalis. We’re paying tribute to the late pianist Ellis Marsalis Jr. who passed of Covid-19 in April 2020, and to his musical sons Branford (saxophone), Wynton (trumpet), Delfeayo (trombone) and Jason (drums and…

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…

It's a Caribbean sonic voyage with singer-guitarist and social leader Aurelio, who grew up in the traditional Afro-Indigenous Garifuna culture of coastal Honduras and now lives part time in the Bronx, NY. He's a global ambassador for Garifuna culture and a member of the Honduran congress. Then live…