KSUT will offer the following special programming in celebration of Black History Month during February:
BLACK HISTORY MONTH SUNDAY SPECIALS, 2-3 PM
• February 6: Going Black,The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio - Starting in the 1950s, Black radio stations around the country became the pulse of African-American communities, and served as their megaphone during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. "Going Black" examines the legacy of Black radio, with a special focus on the legendary WDAS in Philadelphia. Hosted by Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) music producer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Kenny Gamble.
• February 13: Can Do, Stories of Black Visionaries, Seekers, and Entrepreneurs - These stories come from The Kitchen Sisters collection -- stories of black pioneers, self-made men and self-taught women, neighborhood heroes and visionaries. People who said "yes we can" and then did. Hosted by Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actress, Alfre Woodard.
• February 20: Say It Loud, Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African American Identity - "Say It Loud" traces the last 50 years of black history through stirring, historically important speeches by African Americans from across the political spectrum. With recordings unearthed from libraries and sound archives, and made widely available here for the first time, "Say It Loud" includes landmark speeches by Malcolm X, Lorraine Hansberry, Angela Davis, Martin Luther King Jr., Henry Louis Gates, and many others.
• February 27: Mavis Staples' Soul, A Celebration - A music and talk celebration of the indomitable spirit and talent that Mavis Staples has shown over a career that tracks from the late 1940’s, into the 2020’s. A panel of top notch music writers and scholars reflect on her rich music history, as Paul Ingles hosts a mix of some of her most important and stirring performances. It focuses on her family's early gospel group successes in the 1950's and the beginning of their emergence as civil rights messengers and pop chart leaders in the 1960's and early 1970's.
CLOSE ENOUGH FOR JAZZ, Sunday, February 20, 7-9 PM: While every episode of CEFJ celebrates the artistry of Black musicians, jazz is Black music and history. On February 20, the show will feature a historical perspective of how this art form came to be.
BARRELHOUSE BLUES, Tuesday, 7-9 PM: Every Tuesday during February, Barrelhouse Blues celebrates Black History Month. This year that includes exploring depression-era blues and the sometimes complementary/sometimes contentious relationship between gospel music and blues music.
TALES OF THE NEW WEST, Wednesday, February 16, 7-9 PM: This Black History Month episode of Tales of the New West will feature music from Charley Pride, Tray Wellington, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Our Native Daughters (both solo and together), and many others. The "Festival Focus" kicks off the show with three songs performed on Reservoir Hill by Valerie June last September.
THE IKE'S AMERICA RADIO PROGRAM, Thursday, 7-9 PM: Ike's America will honor Black History throughout the month of February. Many of the most celebrated voices on Ike's America, including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat "King" Cole, Billie Holiday and Cab Calloway often found themselves treated as "Second Class Citizens" in American cities north & south despite their celebrity. This month, we'll spotlight some of the challenges these and other influential artists overcame to create some of the most memorable and significant music of the 20th century.
SPECIAL- JUMP FOR JOY, DUKE ELLINGTON'S CELEBRATORY MUSICAL, Thursday, February 10, 9 PM: Ellington once said that Jump for Joy "was the hippest thing we ever did." The inspiration came from a late-night party, a convergence of Hollywood glamour and nascent civil-rights activism with one of America's greatest jazz orchestras. In the summer of 1941, as Americans warily regarded a world war that seemed to be edging ever closer to their shores, Duke Ellington staged what he would later call "the first 'social significance' show," Jump for Joy. Jump for Joy was an all-black musical revue that Ellington said "would take Uncle Tom out of the theater and say things that would make the audience think."
CELEBRATING BLACK VOICES IN MUSIC WITH SUSIE B, Friday, 2-3 PM during the Afternoon Blend: Encompassing Susie B's Friday Matinee and other special treats throughout Black History Month.
SAN JUAN SUNRISE, Saturday, February 26, 6-8 AM: Stasia honors Black History Month with a Sunrise featuring both contemporary and classic Black musicians, including: Joy Oladokun, Al Green, Lizz Wright, Keb Mo, Mavis Staples, Arlo Parks, Devon Gilfillian, Percy Sledge, Amythyst Kiah, Charles Brown, Sade, The Isley Brothers, Valerie June and many more.
STRANGE BREW, Saturday, February 26, 7-9 PM: Jim Belcher celebrates Black History Month with a special "brew" featuring Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Living Color, King’s X and many more.
FOLK ALLEY - Black History Month, Sunday, 1-2 PM: Celebrate Black History Month with Sunday playlists honoring Black folk and blues artists who have influenced so many contemporary artists heard on Folk Alley. Odetta, Memphis Minnie, Lead Belly, Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Sippie Wallace, Blind Willie McTell, The Staple Singers, Jesse Fuller, and much more.
WORLD CAFE Black History Month: New Voices, Weeknights, 10 PM-midnight: Throughout Black History Month, World Cafe is putting the spotlight on new and emerging Black musical voices. Drawing on numerous genres, including jazz, singer-songwriter, rock, alt-R&B, hip-hop, rock and soul, these are the artists who are making exciting music for the current moment.
