Sunday, May 9

Gospel great Kirk Franklin has a timely new remix of “Can You Feel It” by The Jacksons featuring Tamela Mann. We’re also celebrating the birthday of musical genius Stevie Wonder, who turns 71 on May 13. Hear several of his classic tunes and an interview with his childhood friend Margaret Terry from Detroit. Plus, Soulsations listener Terry Atwater from Wichita shares his DoubleTake pick: “At Your Best (You Are Love)” by the ever soulful Isley Brothers and covered by the talented Aaliyah.

Monday, May 3

Night Train kicks of the April feature celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with music from pianist, composer, and orchestrator Chie Imaizumi. We’re also featuring music from Keith Jarrett and Gary Peacock, both born in May, and this night we’ll hear music from Jarrett’s most recent release, capturing his 2016 concert in Budapest. Birthday artists featured tonight include guitarist Hristo Vitchev, pianist John Lewis, flutist Andrea Brachfeld, lyricist Betty Comden, and bassist Jymie Merritt (featured in a special in hour two about a classic ‘60s Jazz Messengers lineup that included him.)

Tuesday, May 4

Night Train marks birthdays of bass legend Ron Carter (including on a new album from former Wichitan Greg Skaff) and saxophonist Bob Sheppard. The May Asian American Heritage Month feature continues with music from pianist, composer and newly named Guggenheim Fellow Helen Sung. We’re also featuring Gary Peacock and Keith Jarrett, both born in May, and we’ll hear them together as part of the famous “Standards Trio” with Jack DeJohnette – and there’s a Jarrett special in hour two of the show.

Wednesday, May 5

Some “suite” sounds tonight on the Night Train with jazz suites from Duke Ellington, Charlie Byrd, Wynton Marsalis, and Claude Bolling. We’ll also hear a tribute to Modern Jazz Quartet member and classically-influenced jazz artist John Lewis, Classical Variations from Uri Caine, and more

Thursday, May 6

Night Train joins in with Global Village and Strange Currency to celebrate one of its favorite holidays – World Accordion Day! We’ll hear music from such eclectic and accomplished accordionists as Richard Galliano, Gary Versace, Jaroslaw Bester, and Gil Goldstein (guesting with Abbey Lincoln, Nicki Parrott, Jim Hall, and Joe Lovano – and featured in a special in hour two, wherein he reveals his surprise inspiration for taking up the accordion).

Friday, May 7 and Sunday, May 9

It’s “New Month/New Music” time as Crossroads teams up with Global Village and Strange Currency at the beginning of every month to feature the best in new blues releases.

Among the highlights this time:

A Best-Of set from soul blues star Johnny Rawls

The 77-year-young gospel singer Elizabeth King’s debut album

The return of veteran soul blues guitarist and singer Clarence Spady

Songwriter, guitarist, and singer EG Kight back in a basic trio setting

The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band serving up some Dance Songs for Hard Times

More roots blues from Bob Corritore and some all-star blues friends

Next-gen New Orleans funk from Dumpstaphunk

And popular Mississippi soul blues man Mr. Sipp.

Monday, May 3

Global Village is both folky and funky this time as we mark birthdays of musicians and activists James Brown and Pete Seeger. We’ll hear music from Brown along with several African artists inspired by his deep funk style. And along with music from Seeger, we’ll hear selections from a recent album from Kronos Quartet celebrating his music. We’ll also hear music from Beolach, who just took home two Canadian Folk Music Awards, and a new release from Made Kuti, the son of Femi Kuti and the grandson of Afrobeat creator Fela Kuti.

Tuesday, May 4

Z is for Zither this time in the Global Village. In conjunction with the May Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month feature, we’ll highlight the zither from China (the ancient guqin), and similar instruments that evolved from it in Vietnam (đàn tranh), Korea (gayageum), Mongolia (yatga), and Japan (koto) in music ranging from the traditional to contemporary works that also draw on classical, jazz, and popular music. Artists and groups featured include Tri Nguyen, Jim Snidero, Khusugtun, Yat-Kha, and the Yamato Ensemble.

Wednesday, May 5

Global Village celebrates Cinco de Mayo with a wide array of styles and sounds from musicians and bands from Mexico and of Mexican heritage – including Esquivel, Lila Downs, Santana, Los Lobos, Mexican Dubwiser, the Mexican Institute of Sound, Linda Ronstadt, and more.

Thursday, May 6

Global Village celebrates World Accordion Day with a wide array of styles and sounds from musicians and bands from all across the globe who incorporate the squeezebox into their music – including Nigeria’s I.K. Dairo, Basque artists Korrontzi and Kepa Junkera, Poland’s Bester Quartet, Italy’s Riccardo Tesi, Berlin’s 17 Hippies, Boston’s Grand Fatilla, Argentina’s Chango Spasiuk, and Romania’s Taraf de Haidouks.

Friday, May 7

It’s New Month/New Music time in the Global Village. Each month, Global Village devotes an entire show to the best of recently released and forthcoming world music albums. 

Among the highlights this time:

• The powerful voice and charismatic presence of Christine Salem from Réunion Island
• Cypriot Antonis Antoniou of Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke with a new solo project
• Italian neo-folk master and multi-instrumentalist Stefano Saletti with his Banda Ikona lineup exploring sounds of the Mediterranean
• An exquisite and moving project from the Corsican group L’Alba that also draws on a range of Mediterranean influences combined with the distinctive vocal traditions of the island.
• A 10th anniversary celebration from the nine-piece Parisian Afrofunk brass collective, Balaphonics

And as we kick off the May feature celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we’ll hear a live album from pipa master Wu Man with sheng player Wu Wei, and a meeting of Asian, European, and jazz influences in the group Greekorea.

Monday, May 3

Pawn Shop Queen is the new release from Kansas-raised and Los Angeles-based musician Katie Jo. We’ll hear music from that record on this episode of the show as well as selections from Cool Dry Place, the latest from Katy Kirby.

Tuesday, May 4

’Til We Meet Again is the first-ever live release from Norah Jones and features favorites from her discography as well as a rendition of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun.” We’ll hear music from that recording as well as songs from Low Cut Connie, Mia Doi Todd and others.

Wednesday, May 5

Listen for selections from Mia Doi Todd’s latest, Music Life plus selections from Alfa Mist, Green-House and others.

Thursday, May 6

We mark World Accordion Day with music from Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Los Lobos and, of course, Those Darn Accordions.

Friday, May 7

It’s Our New Month, New Music Feature with selections from Peter Frampton Forgets The Words, Oliver Wood and the late Gary Moore.

Saturday, May 8

We mark the birthday of jazz great Keith Jarrett with music from throughout his career, including collaborations with Charlie Haden, Charles Lloyd and many more.