American Routes is blues and jazz, gospel and soul, rockabilly and country, Cajun and swamp pop, Tejano, Latin… and beyond. Songs and stories from musicians describe a deep and diverse nation with sounds and styles shared by all Americans. From the bayous to the beltways, from crossroads to crosstown, on interstates and city streets, turn up your radio for the sonic journey!
American Routes—produced in New Orleans since 1998
Jump for Joy: Big Band Jazz and Conjunto Fiddle Traditions with Carla Bley and Belen Escobedo
April 9, 2025
A visit with the late inventive and eccentric jazz composer Carla Bley, who brought wry humor to a conversation about the challenges of writing for her very big bands, her early days as a cigarette girl in NYC jazz clubs, and why America might be famous for baked beans. Then we head southwest and west to the borderlands of Mexican-American music with a stop for conversation with San Antonio’s Belen Escobedo, a master of the traditional conjunto violin. Plus songs from Freddy Fender, Elizabeth Cotten, Sunny and the Sunliners and Flatt & Scruggs.
NEXT WEEK
Easter & Passover: Let Hope & Freedom Prevail
It’s songs for Easter, Passover and spring, to let hope prevail while we preserve freedom in these tough times. We’ve got songs of resurrection, liberation, rainy weather, and rabbit blues, with the voices of Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Bessie Smith, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Dr. John, Willie Nelson and Fats Domino. We’ll hear the “voice of the Holy Ghost” through the sacred steel stylings of Fran Grace (“Lady Strings”) and Nicolle “Nikki D” Brown from Toledo, Ohio. Then, we travel to North East Louisiana to witness the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble perform a spiritual ritual from enslaved Africans that combines Christian worship and the West African ring shout tradition.
Photo of Fran Grace by Del Ray Grace, Sr.
Caribbean Cruise & South Louisiana Sojourn: Garifuna Guitarist Aurelio & Creole Accordionist Cedric Watson
It's a Caribbean sonic voyage with the late singer-guitarist and social leader Aurelio, who grew up in the traditional Afro-Indigenous Garifuna culture of coastal Honduras. He was a global ambassador for Garifuna culture and a member of the Honduran congress. Then live in-studio, the young Louisiana fiddler, accordionist, singer, Cedric Watson and his band Bijou Creole play La-La and zydeco soul. Plus: Kid Ory’s New Orleans jazz; reggae songman, Jimmy Cliff; Cuban descarga from Cachao; and the Trinidad calypso hero Mighty Sparrow.
Photo of Aurelio in Corozal Village, Honduras by Sarah Weeden
The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University
The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University brings the world’s leading authors to the university’s uptown campus for a multi-day celebration for book lovers of all ages.
The fourth annual New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University will take place March 27-29, 2025, on Tulane’s uptown campus. The festival is free and open to the public.
To find out more about the festival, including the 2025 schedule, click here.