This week on Blues Before Sunrise, the spotlight shines on one of the most quietly revolutionary figures in 20th-century music — Lonnie Johnson. A guitarist, singer, and composer whose career spanned from the 1920s through the 1960s, Johnson bridged the gap between jazz and blues, influencing everyone from T-Bone Walker to B.B. King and beyond. His impeccable phrasing, subtle swing, and lyrical touch made him the first true modern guitar soloist — a musician equally at home in the blues joints of St. Louis or the studios of New York. Across five rich hours, Steve Cushing builds a musical journey that connects Johnson’s artistry to the wider world he helped shape.

Hour One opens in the heart of Bronzeville — Chicago’s famed South Side neighborhood that pulsed with Black culture and music during the mid-20th century. The set rolls out with Johnny Otis’s “Harlem Nocturne,” setting a smoky, after-hours mood. Then comes the great Jimmy Rushing, Count Basie’s powerhouse shouter, whose recordings like “My Baby’s Business” and “Thursday Blues” blend Kansas City swing with gutbucket feeling. Helen Humes follows with her polished yet blues-soaked sides such as “Ain’t Gonna Quit You Baby” and “Airplane Blues,” capturing the energy of Chicago’s club circuit in its postwar heyday. The Gerald Wilson Orchestra delivers sharp, modern big-band arrangements that show how the Bronzeville sound evolved beyond the dance floor, and Pete Johnson’s “Hollywood Boogie” keeps the piano rolling. A touch of dignity and depth arrives with Paul Robeson and “Lord God of Abraham” — proof that spiritual conviction and artistic excellence often walked hand in hand in the world of BBS.

Hour Two shifts gears into jump blues, small combo jazz, and vintage gospel. Roy Brown, Rubberlegs Williams, Cousin Joe, and Gatemouth Moore serve up slices of postwar rhythm and blues that reveal the growing sophistication of the form. Their songs balance humor, heartache, and sly wit — the sound of urban nightlife in motion. Then, the great Ethel Waters steps forward for a complete session, demonstrating her range from vaudeville charm to emotional resonance. The hour wraps in the church pews, with gospel sides by The Golden Gate Quartet, Elder Solomon Michaux, and Wings Over Jordan, reminding listeners how spirituals shaped not just gospel but every strain of blues and jazz that followed.

Then comes Hour Three, the centerpiece: The Spotlight on Lonnie Johnson. This segment offers a rare opportunity to hear Johnson in intimate collaboration with some of his most important contemporaries. His duets with jazz guitarist Eddie Lang remain landmarks — delicate, conversational performances that introduced true single-string improvisation to recorded music. With Clara Smith, Johnson explores vocal blues with equal finesse, his guitar answering her every phrase like a trusted partner. Sessions with Spencer Williams and Victoria Spivey add humor, grit, and raw energy — “New Black Snake Blues,” “Furniture Man Blues,” and “The Monkey and the Baboon” all sparkle with personality. Across these recordings, we hear Lonnie Johnson’s genius for restraint and taste, his ability to make six strings sound like a full conversation.

Hour Four brings the blues into its amplified age with a heavy-hitting Chicago lineup: Elmore James, Earl Hooker, Johnny Littlejohn, The Big Three Trio, and Smokey Smothers. Each artist carries Johnson’s influence into a louder, rougher world. The slide moans of “Stormy Monday” and “She Just Won’t Do Right” echo Lonnie’s lyrical phrasing, while the Big Three Trio’s harmonized guitar and bass lines show how his sophistication filtered into postwar ensembles. The hour closes with storming R&B from Jerry McCain, Roscoe Gordon, and Billy the Kid Emerson — all proof that blues, even in its rowdiest form, never lost its craft or precision.

Finally, Hour Five cools the air for The Soul Breakfast. The Charioteers set the tone with their smooth, gospel-rooted harmonies on “For Sentimental Reasons” and “I’ll Be Around.” From there, the music drifts through elegant performances by Stan Getz, Arthur Prysock, Shirley Horn, and Shirley Scott, each adding jazz grace to the morning mix. The mood deepens as the hour moves back to the blues — Willie Mabon, Eddie Boyd, John Lee Hooker, Lil’ Son Jackson, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Big Boy Crudup each bringing their own brand of earthiness to the closing stretch. Sonny Boy Williamson I keeps things sharp with “Mellow Chick Swing,” before Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” drifts in like a sunrise — the traditional curtain closer for another BBS session well spent.

Through it all, Blues Before Sunrise continues to do what it does best: uncover the connective tissue between eras and styles. From Bronzeville swing to amplified Chicago grit, from gospel devotion to soul sophistication, and through the artistry of Lonnie Johnson himself, this week’s show reminds us that the blues isn’t one sound — it’s a language that never stops speaking.