This week’s Blues Before Sunrise brings together five hours of old records with no single theme beyond the program’s enduring invitation to rock, swing, and groove. That open approach gives the broadcast room to move through orchestra-led swing, jump blues, gospel quartets, piano features, guitar-centered blues, jazz singers, and deeply personal late-night selections. The result is a wide-ranging program shaped less by one subject than by the connections created from one record to the next.

The first hour leans into a lively, dance-minded opening. Richard Berry’s “Next Time” leads toward the Holiday for Swing performances by Erskine Hawkins, whose sequence includes “The Buffalo Nickle,” “Coast to Coast,” and “I’ve Got a Right to Cry.” Hot Lips Page follows with a compact set that keeps the energy in motion, while Marion Abernathy and Nellie Lutcher introduce contrasting vocal personalities. Mills Bros., Cow Cow Davenport, Josephine Baker, and Julian Dash complete an hour that moves freely between swing, boogie, songbook material, and upbeat blues.

Hour 2 extends the drive with The Treniers, Wynonie Harris, Roy Brown, Ivory Joe Hunter, Bullmoose Jackson, and Wee Willie Wayne. Big John Greer receives a two-song turn, while LaVerne Baker and Jimmy Ricks bring a duet into the mix. The hour then shifts in a more reflective direction through Viola McCoy, L.C. Pridgett, Delta Big Four, Rev. A.W. Nix, Spirit of Mempehis Quartet, and Mahalia Jackson. The sequence makes room for both hard-charging rhythm and gospel-centered closing statements.

Brownie McGhee opens Hour 3, followed by a substantial Jimmy Blythe piano segment and four selections from the Golden Gate Quartet. Kalama’s Quartet provides another distinct vocal group sound before Teddy Bunn closes the hour. That programming places blues, piano, vocal harmony, and quartet material in direct conversation without forcing them into a single narrow category.

The fourth hour returns to guitar-led blues with Hooker & Heat and John Lee Hooker, then travels through Robert Nighthawk, Otis Spann, Jerry McCain, Vera Hall, Boy Blue, and Forrest City Joe. The hour’s sequence is built around concise sets that emphasize individual artists while maintaining a strong, rolling pace. Its final selections from Boy Blue bring the hour to a close without abandoning the rough-edged momentum established at the start.

Hour 5 broadens the palette again. The Ravens, Duke Ellington, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Jimmy Smith, and Billie Holiday create a jazz-centered opening before T-Bone Walker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Thunder & Lightning, Lester Williams, Jimmy Wilson, Jesse Belvin, Poison Gardner, TV Slim, Johnny Fuller, and Fleetwood Mac carry the program toward its closing “Albatross.” Across the five hours, Blues Before Sunrise presents an expansive listening session where swing, jazz, blues, gospel, and rhythm all have a place.