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SONNY ROLLINS & BOB FRENCH

Saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins has been igniting the jazz scene ever since he was a kid in the 1940s, hanging out with his mentor Thelonious Monk. We’ll talk with the jazz master about his work with Miles and Monk among others, and his current improvisatory explorations. Then we’ll visit with New Orleans’ own jazz legend, Bob French, leader of the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, to learn the finer points of keeping time in the Crescent City.

NURSERY RHYME BLUES: MUSIC BY, FOR AND ABOUT... KIDS

Rock the cradle, with music by, for and about kids—but hip enough for children of all ages. Swing Mother Goose in jazz, blues and country; plus animal tales in rock and funk. Join us for a visit to the Louis Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp and hear the next generation of New Orleans musicians. And the Imagination Movers drop by to talk about going from a birthday party conversation to the next big sensation in kids’ music.

LIVING WITH THE BLUES

This week on American Routes we’re roaming the highways, byways and crossroads in search of the blues. We sit down with blues humanist Bill Ferris to talk about his life documenting music, visit with Delta piano blues chanteuse Eden Brent and catch up with Baton Rouge to Chicago “legend” Buddy Guy. Hang out with us on Hwy. 61 at Teddy’s Juke Joint, hear some Hill Country family jams, and stories from the master of the gut-bucket blues, Little Freddie King.

GET RHYTHM: A TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY CASH

It’s a two-hour tribute in song and story to the Man in Black. We’ll hear from his family, friends and associates on the contradictions—preacher, outlaw, loving family man, rockabilly rebel—that made the man. Voices include Rosanne Cash; son John Carter Cash; sister Joanne Yates; bassist and original member of the Tennessee Two Marshall Grant; guitarist Johnny Western; producer Rick Rubin; long-time manager Lou Robin; writer and critic Michael Streissguth; and, of course, Johnny Cash.

J.J. CALE & CEDRIC WATSON

J.J. Cale came up in the clubs of Tulsa, Oklahoma playing everything from Western Swing to Rock n’ Roll. He even wrote songs that became hits for his friend Eric Clapton. But it was in the recording studio where he found his true calling. We’ll talk with J.J. about his career as a guitar man, songwriter and studio wizard. Then we visit with up and coming Creole fiddler and accordionist Cedric Watson and learn about his journey within the world of French and Caribbean music.