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Listen to 'Good Times: The Evolution of Black Music' episode 2 - Jazz, Blues and Rock & Roll

Louis Armstrong in Paris, 1965.
Louis Armstrong in Paris, 1965.AFP/AFP/Getty Images | via NPR
  Play Now [58:03]

by Debonaire

June 15, 2021

June is Black Music Month, and every Monday night at 10 throughout the month of June, The Current features a special program, Good Times: The Evolution of Black Music. Hosted by Debonaire, we'll celebrate Black music and its contributions to America's musical landscape.

For episode 2, we dig into the music that shaped the American music landscape: jazz, blues, and rock and roll.

Program Playlist

Louis Armstrong, "What A Wonderful World"
Ella Fitzgerald, "My Baby Likes to Bebop"
Billie Holiday, "I'll Be Seeing You"
Miles Davis, "So What"
Robert Johnson, "Cross Road Blues"
Bessie Smith, "Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl"
Muddy Waters, "Mannish Boy"
B.B. King, "Three O'Clock Blues"
Big Mama Thornton, "Hound Dog"
Ray Charles, "I Got a Woman"
Chuck Berry, "Mabellene"
Little Richard, "Lucille"
Tina Turner, "Proud Mary"
Jimi Hendrix, "All Along the Watchtower"