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Glenn Francis/Pacific Pro Digital PhotographyThe late Jesse Colin Young’s career began in Greenwich Village during the 60’s folk revival. After releasing solo albums, Jesse teamed up with guitarist Jerry Corbitt, keyboardist and guitarist Lowell "Banana" Levinger, and drummer Joe Bauer to form the Youngbloods. Their iconic 1967 hit “Get Together,” originally by Dino Valenti, called for peace and unity. Young moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1969, but relocated to Hawaii after he lost his house in a fire in 1995. He used music to get through those hard times and suffering from Lyme disease. His music also increasingly dealt with political disaster, raising concern about the environment and war. Born Perry Miller, Jesse’s dreams of a free life began in Queens with his father and music at home. Jesse Colin Young passed March 16, 2025.
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New Orleans guitar and banjo player Detroit Brooks got a start touring with his musical family, including father George Brooks Sr. of the gospel group Masonic Kings, and his sister, gospel singer Juanita Brooks. Detroit grew up downriver, living four blocks from Fats Domino, and was greatly influenced by the late Creole banjo and guitar player, Danny Barker. He created a festival in his memory. In addition to his career in music, Detroit worked as a barber and for Amtrak. He's well versed in traditional jazz, R&B, soul, and funk. He's here as bandleader of the Syncopated Percolators at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, playing “Hindustan,” on American Routes Live. -
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This is American Routes, I'm Nick Spitzer. It’s no secret, here and worldwide, we’re in a time of turmoil, in government, political attacks, secrecy and war. We asked you, our listeners, to help pick music and musicians that deal with the troubles, and we added a few songs and singers that fit the mood as best we could. They include the Staple Singers, Allen Toussaint, Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, Toots and the Maytals, Son Volt, Carole King and John Coltrane. ***Content warning: This episode contains the word “Goddamn” at 1:29. It is not bleeped.” -
Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers co-founder Chris Hillman is a musician, singer, songwriter, and author. A third generation Californian, Hillman grew up hearing Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, all on his parents’ hi-fi. He discovered bluegrass and picked up mandolin by way of Bill Monroe and the New Lost City Ramblers. At seventeen, Hillman joined his first band, the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, a bluegrass group that included Eagles’ guitarist Bernie Leadon. He later played with the Golden State Boys, the resident bluegrass band for Los Angeles television’s Cal’s Corral, which became the Hillmen. I spoke to Chris Hillman over Zoom, where he told me how he was recruited to play bass for the Byrds at a studio rehearsal in L.A. -
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Black Masking Mardi Gras Indians have a rich cultural history in New Orleans dating back to the 19th century. A queen in one tribe says this is her last year parading and she’s concerned about how her culture continues to be commodified. -
Thousands of revelers in outlandish costumes filled the streets of New Orleans as the city celebrated Mardi Gras Day despite the threat of storms. -
Like New Orleans, the small village of Schaijk in the Netherlands is also celebrating Carnaval on Tuesday — and making an update to a centuries-old tradition. -
With strong winds in the forecast on Tuesday, Mardi Gras parades in Jefferson Parish have been canceled, and two parades in New Orleans have adjusted their plans, WDSU and Fox 8 reported.
