This week’s edition of Blues Before Sunrise travels through nearly every corner of vintage Black American music, weaving together jazz, blues, gospel quartet harmonies, and electric postwar blues into another rich overnight journey. While the program covers a broad range of styles across five hours, the centerpiece arrives during Hour Three with a remarkable spotlight on the Birmingham Quartet Anthology, a rare collection documenting Alabama gospel quartets recorded between 1926 and 1953.

The anthology, compiled by historian Doug Seroff and originally released as a two-LP set in Scandinavia in 1980, captures a nearly forgotten world of mostly a cappella gospel singing. Drawn from Birmingham and nearby Bessemer, these recordings preserve voices that carried spiritual music through churches, neighborhoods, and community gatherings across the segregated South. The performances are raw, deeply emotional, and strikingly direct. Without heavy instrumentation, the focus falls entirely on harmony, rhythm, and conviction.

Groups like the Famous Blue Jay Singers, Ravizee Singers, Dunham Jubilee Singers, and Heavenly Gospel Singers deliver music rooted in faith but overflowing with musical sophistication. Their harmonies echo blues structures while also pointing toward the vocal quartet traditions that later influenced soul and rhythm & blues. The hour becomes more than entertainment—it feels like musical preservation in real time.

Outside of the featured anthology, the rest of the program moves fluidly through jazz, jump blues, early R&B, and Chicago electric blues. Hour One opens with the fiery trumpet work of Roy Eldridge and the playful vocal style of Joe Carroll, creating a fast-moving blend of swing-era jazz and blues energy. Toni Harper’s smooth ballads provide contrast before the hour closes with novelty tunes and boogie-driven instrumentals that keep the atmosphere loose and inviting.

Hour Two shifts toward rhythm & blues and urban blues recordings from the late 1940s and early 1950s. Larry Darnell, Tommy Ridgely, Floyd Dixon, and Cousin Joe bring a dancehall spirit filled with heartbreak, swagger, and humor. Tampa Red and Walter Davis contribute quieter, emotionally grounded blues performances before gospel selections begin guiding the show toward the spiritual focus of Hour Three.

Hour Four cleverly revolves around artists carrying the name “King,” creating an unofficial “royalty hour” of blues and R&B. B.B. King, Albert King, Freddy King, Earl King, Saunders King, and others each bring their own regional flavor and guitar style to the spotlight. The hour flows from sophisticated electric blues to New Orleans rhythm and jump blues, showing how varied postwar Black music had become by the 1950s and ’60s.

Hour Five eases listeners into the overnight stretch with smoother jazz and late-night blues textures. Nat King Cole, Shirley Horn, Cal Tjader, and Larry Young provide a relaxed, reflective mood before the blues returns through Sunnyland Slim, JoJo Williams, Henry Gray, Eddie Clearwater, and Zora Young. Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” once again closes the journey, serving as the final drift into dawn after five hours of deep musical exploration.

What makes this week’s Blues Before Sunrise especially memorable is the way it connects traditions. The gospel quartets of Birmingham sit comfortably beside Chicago blues, swing jazz, and postwar R&B because they all belong to the same larger musical story. Across every hour, the show continues its mission of preserving and celebrating music that shaped generations but too often remains overlooked.