AMERICAN ROUTES
Earl Scruggs & Tom Rush Earl Scruggs & Tom Rush June 22nd, 2022 (Hour 1)
Earl Scruggs & Tom Rush

Earl Scruggs‘ legendary banjo playing, aptly named “Scruggs Style,” has left its mark on American pop culture and inspired generations of banjo players. In the late 1960s, Scruggs, along with his sons, bravely crossed musical boundaries, but his musical journey really started back at the beginnings of bluegrass, playing with Bill Monroe and later, Lester Flatt. In this American Routes encore, we talk to Earl and his sons, Randy and Gary, about performing on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium and why he doesn’t need to crack jokes about the banjo. New Hampshire-born folk singer songwriter Tom Rush may have gone to Harvard and studied with a ballad scholar, but he still knows how to sing the blues. We’ll visit with Rush to learn more about Boston’s folk scene in the 1960s, his time as a radio DJ and his inspired approach to songwriting.

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CELEBRATING JAZZ FEST AT 50: WITH DUKE ELLINGTON AND MAHALIA JACKSON

May 1st, 2019

We’re celebrating 50 years of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by looking back at historic performances from the first festival in 1970. We’ll hear live recordings from Jazz Fest royalty, Duke Ellington and the Queen of Gospel, Mahalia Jackson. We’ll start with commentary from jazz clarinetist Dr. Michael White on Duke Ellington’s New Orleans Suite, which was commissioned by Jazz Fest founder George Wein, premiered at the 1970 festival, and was turned into an iconic studio recording. Then, we’ll hear from Mahalia Jackson in her own words in historic interviews and performances. Also Irma Thomas’ tribute in Jazz Fest’s Gospel Tent; plus Jackson biographer Mark Burford and New Orleans gospel singer Cynthia Girtley on the Gospel Queen’s legacy in and beyond New Orleans. Join us for Jazz Fest’s 50th anniversary with a trip back to its birth in Congo Square, 1970.

Photo by Michael P. Smith courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection

  • Listen to Hour One
  • Listen to Hour Two

HOUR ONE

  • Open Bed: Blues for New Orleans Duke Ellington
    Live recording from the 1970 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,
  • Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • Instrumental: West End Blues Allen Toussaint
    The Bright Mississippi, Nonesuch
  • Clip: Duke's Place Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong
    The Great Summit, Roulette
  • Portrait of Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • Thanks for the Beautiful Land on the Delta Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • Portrait of Wellman Braud Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • Second Line Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • Portrait of Sidney Bechet Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • Instrumental: Summertime Sidney Betchet
    Dear Old Southland, Definitive
  • Aristocracy a la Jean Lafitte Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • Portrait of Mahalia Jackson Duke Ellington
    New Orleans Suite, Atlantic
  • C Jam Blues Duke Ellington
    Live recording from the 1970 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,
  • April in Paris Duke Ellington
    Live recording from the 1970 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,
  • End Bed: C Jam Blues Duke Ellington
    Blues In Orbit, Columbia

HOUR two

  • Open Bed: Just a Little While to Stay Here Dr. Michael White
    A Song For George Lewis, Basin Street
  • I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About in My Song Mahalia Jackson
    The World's Greatest Gospel Singer, Columbia
  • SEGMENT: Soundscape and Influences: Sounds of New Orleans and Bessie Smith

    Listen
  • SEGMENT: Her Youth in New Orleans

    Listen
  • Instrumental: Weather Bird Louis Armstrong and Earl Fatha Hines
    The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, Sony/Legacy
  • SEGMENT: Move to Chicago

    Listen
  • SEGMENT: I'm a Modern Gospel Singer: Columbia Records, Two Careers, Mahalia Treatment

    Listen
  • Where Could I Go But for the Lord Ernestine Washington with Bunk Johnson's Band
    The Asch Recordings, 1939-1947 Vol. 1: Blues, Gospel and Jazz, Folkways
  • Everybody's Going to Have a Wonderful Time Up There (Gospel Boogie) Sister Rosetta Tharpe with the Dependable Boys
    Sister Rosetta Tharpe Vol. 3: 1946-1947, Document
  • Keep Your Hand on the Plow Mahalia Jackson
    Moving on Up a Little Higher, Shanachie
  • Instrumental: Rev. Moses Lou Donaldson
    Alligator Bogaloo, Blue Note
  • SEGMENT: Inheritors of Mahalia & Homecoming

    Listen
  • SEGMENT: Cynthia Girtley

    Listen
  • SEGMENT: Homecoming: 1970 Jazz Fest

    Listen
  • He Will Remember Me Mahalia Jackson
    Live from the 1970 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival,
  • End Bed: Just a Closer Walk with Thee Dr. Michael White
    A Song for George Lewis, Basin Street

THE LATEST STREAMS

  • June 22nd, 2022

    EARL SCRUGGS & TOM RUSH

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  • June 15th, 2022

    SOUNDS OF FREEDOM: FONTELLA BASS AND FREDDIE HUBBARD

    Listen
  • June 8th, 2022

    SHADES OF THE BLUES

    Listen
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