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We feature gospel and R&B singer Mavis Staples, from the second installment of our show all about Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan admired the civil rights songs of the Staples Singers and would hear them on tour in the early ‘60s. Mavis Staples remembers when her father, Pops, heard Dylan for the first time and how Dylan’s protest lyrics influenced their family in return.
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Krewe da Bhan Gras has been a hit on the parade route this Carnival season as the latest example of Mardi Gras’ diverse, inclusive nature and its evolution.
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Can't get enough king cake? This New Orleans artist's Monopoly-inspired game is made for you.
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Mona Lisa Saloy is a folklorist, poet, professor, and in 2021 was named Louisiana Poet Laureate. Her poems document and celebrate Creole culture in New Orleans, food, language, music, and more. She's written about sidewalk songs, jump-rope rhymes, hand-clap games, and the Black oral tradition of toasting. Mona Lisa's poetry grew from her youth in New Orleans' Seventh Ward, where music was a major part of life.
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Our guest Jonathan Ward is an expert on finding music on antique records. His collection, Excavated Shellac: An Alternate History of the World’s Music includes one hundred 78 RPM recordings and stories from around the world, almost all of which have never been heard since they were first produced. The collection features music from six continents and eighty-nine different countries and regions, recorded between 1907-1967. It was nominated for the Best Historical Album Grammy Award in 2022. I asked Jonathan what drew him to the mostly shellac era of 78 RPMs.
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The Historic New Orleans Collection spotlights civil rights activist Betty Daniels Rosemond.
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The Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band has been playing together since 1977. The band includes husband and wife Marc and Ann Savoy, on accordion and guitar respectively, and Michael Doucet of Beausoleil on fiddle. The trio has presented traditional Cajun music at Louisiana dance halls, major music festivals, and presidential inaugurations. They recently played a Cajun dance party in New Orleans’ French Market for the National Treasures Tour of Culture Bearers in National Parks. I sat down back home with the Savoys and Michael Doucet to talk about the band and their relationship as friends, family, and musicians. First, I asked Marc Savoy about his choice to continue family traditions of making and playing accordions.