Jazz masters, Cajun music on stage for 'American Routes Live!
New Orleans' nationally heard public radio program, “American Routes,” will present a live show at the Civic Theater in the Crescent City on April 29, featuring masters of New Orleans traditional jazz and Cajun music from French Louisiana. “American Routes” is produced in collaboration with Tulane University.
A regular performer with his band at Tulane University Commencement ceremonies, Michael White and his traditional jazz musicians will be featured at "American Routes Live!" (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
Performing will be Dr. Michael White and his Original Liberty Jazz Band, a seven-piece group that will play classic songs, marches, hymns and blues. Joining White will be vocalist Topsy Chapman. A renowned clarinet player, composer and historian, White is a Tulane alumnus.
The show also will feature Michael Doucet, the fiddler and founder of renowned Cajun band BeauSoleil from Lafayette, La., which will play two-steps, waltzes and tunes in a virtuoso Cajun style. The group has performed together nearly 40 years.
They will be joined by Mississippi bluesman Little Freddie King and the gospel sounds of the Electrifying Crown Seekers with their blend of falsetto voices and guitars.
The musicians and special guests will join “American Routes” producer and host Nick Spitzer as he interviews and narrates the show onstage. Spitzer is a professor of anthropology and American studies at Tulane.
“For years, friends in Louisiana and listeners nationwide have asked us for more live 'American Routes' shows,” Spitzer says. “This is a way to get that going and join the Broadway South theater scene with 'the news from Lake Pontchartrain.'”
The Civic Theater is at 510 O'Keefe St. in New Orleans. Tickets to the show range from $25â“$75 and are available at the Civic Theater website and Ticketmaster outlets, as well as at the Civic Theater box office on the day of show.
“American Routes Live!” is supported by major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
