Bop 'N The Blues - Friday Nights 8pm-10pm

Bop 'n The Blues first aired on WQLN on May 19, 1995. Since then, every Friday night, the show boards the listener on the mythical Blue Train for a two-hour ride along the big-city boulevards and the back-country roads of the blues. Along the way, you'll hear the raw backwoods blues of Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, and John Lee Hooker contrasted with the polished urban sounds of LeRoy Carr, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Robert Cray. Our Blue Train also tracks gospel, rockabilly, doo wop, blues-based jazz, jump blues, swing, and even some plain old rock and roll from folks like Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Elvis Presley.

Cut to the basics--and completely contrary to your preconceptions of the blues--the show features joyous, danceable music to fuel your TGIF party! I have hosted a variety of jazz and now blues programs on WQLN for the last 26 years. I am an avid listener to WQLN and public radio. I wake up to Morning Edition and go to sleep to On Point and Rob Hoff’s "Jazz Flight.". Furthermore, I listen religiously to all the weekend jazz and blues shows on WQLN and have done so for the last two decades. I feel that WQLN has some of the best jazz and blues hosts and jazz and blues programs in the United States.

Some worthwhile blues and roots recordings: BB King "Live At The Regal" MCA Lou Rawls "Live" Capitol Harry Belafonte "Belafonte Sings The Blues" RCA Jack McDuff "Live" Prestige Elvis Presley "The Sun Sessions" Sun Various "The Best Of Doo Wop Uptempo" Rhino Various "Back To The Crossroads" Yazoo Johnny Otis "Live At Monterey!" Epic Various "Loud Fast & Out Of Control" Rhino Jimmy Witherspoon "The 'Spoon Concerts" Fantasy Various "Jump Blues Classics" Rhino Chuck Berry "The Great 28" Chess