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We're celebrating the music and musicians of Arhoolie Records, the Berkeley-based record company devoted to roots music, blues and jazz, Mexican and Cajun, gospel and country. Arhoolie was founded in 1960 by late producer Chris Strachwitz, who passed away in May. “Arhoolie” is a word for an African American field holler in the South. Young Chris Strachwitz arrived in America from Germany after the war. The first thing he loved was jump jazz on the radio and on jukeboxes. In school, Chris discovered hillbilly and mariachi music on border radio. He skipped class to hear Kid Ory, George Lewis, Big Jay McNeely and Muddy Waters. That's a good education for his future life as a record producer. I visited Chris in back of his record store in El Cerrito, California and asked how Arhoolie Records began.

Soul Queen Gladys Knight grew up in Atlanta with R & B, gospel, doo-wop and soul. At 79, she’s on her farewell tour. We caught up with Gladys Knight in the lobby of the Saenger Theater in New Orleans in 2000. Our conversation started out down home, where the music begins for her.

This is American Routes live in the studio with a few friends. The Stooges Brass Band from New Orleans started as teenagers in 1996 after bandleader Walter "Whoadie" Ramsey heard a performance by Rebirth Brass Band. Walter combined members of two rival high school bands, and they later added hip-hop, funk, and R&B into the setup. The Stooges grew up to play local clubs and jazz second line parades. They went global with videos with hip-hop producer Mannie Fresh. Back home they won local Red Bull Street Kings competitions twice since 2010. Kicking it off: The Stooges on American Routes.

Evan Christopher began playing clarinet in junior high school in Long Beach, CA. His first introduction to New Orleans music was hearing Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens with Johnny Dodds and Artie Shaw on his dad’s records. Evan moved to New Orleans in his early 20s. Here he worked as a steamboat clarinetist by day and explored the music scene on Frenchmen Street by night. He went on to collaborate with Tom McDermott, Al Hirt, the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Galactic, and others. His “Clarinet Road” led him from Socal to New Orleans, San Antonio, Paris, and he now resides in New York City. Evan told us how he came to understand the music of New Orleans.

Cyril Neville, the youngest of the Neville fraternal order, grew up surrounded by New Orleans rhythm and blues hit makers, like James Booker, Earl King, and his brother Art, whose band the Hawketts recorded “Mardi Gras Mambo” in 1954. Cyril got an early start in music playing percussion with his uncle Jolly’s Mardi Gras Indian tribe, the Wild Tchoupitoulas. He joined Art’s funk group, the Meters, in the early ‘70s, and in 1977, Cyril and Art teamed up with Aaron and Charles to form the Neville Brothers. Cyril later founded his own group, Endangered Species, and has become a community and environmental activist, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Cyril spoke of his musical beginnings some seventy years ago.

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.

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.

Evan Christopher began playing clarinet in junior high school in Long Beach, CA. His first introduction to New Orleans music was hearing Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens with Johnny Dodds and Artie Shaw on his dad’s records. Evan moved to New Orleans in his early 20s. Here he worked as a steamboat clarinetist by day and explored the music scene on Frenchmen Street by night. He went on to collaborate with Tom McDermott, Al Hirt, the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Galactic, and others. His “Clarinet Road” led him from Socal to New Orleans, San Antonio, Paris, and he now resides in New York City. Evan told us how he came to understand the music of New Orleans.

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.

This is American Routes live in the studio with a few friends. The Stooges Brass Band from New Orleans started as teenagers in 1996 after bandleader Walter "Whoadie" Ramsey heard a performance by Rebirth Brass Band. Walter combined members of two rival high school bands, and they later added hip-hop, funk, and R&B into the setup. The Stooges grew up to play local clubs and jazz second line parades. They went global with videos with hip-hop producer Mannie Fresh. Back home they won local Red Bull Street Kings competitions twice since 2010. Kicking it off: The Stooges on American Routes.