Story Corps

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)

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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