The final hour of this week’s Blues Before Sunrise creates a particularly wide frame, beginning with performers associated with jazz and vocal music before settling into a blues-centered final stretch. It is an hour built around contrast and adjacency: group vocals, jazz figures, singers, blues performers, and a closing Fleetwood Mac selection all share the same programmed space. Rather than treating those categories as separate worlds, the hour allows them to define one another through sequence.

The Delta Rhythm Boys open with “Miss Me,” introducing the hour with an ensemble name before the program turns to Milt Jackson’s “In the Wood.” Arthur Prysock follows with “You’ve Changed,” then Betty Carter appears with “Tell Him I Said Hello.” These first four selections establish a run of distinct voices and approaches, with the hour moving from group billing to individual performers without repeating a single artist. The programming’s early shape is therefore one of variety, but not of distraction: each recording leads naturally to another new presence.

Jimmy Smith’s “Old Devil Moon” extends the jazz current, followed by Toni Harper’s “Lady Lonely” and “The Velvet Hammer.” Harper’s paired selections are an important part of the hour’s internal structure. After a series of individual entries, her two-recording sequence creates a brief focal point and gives the listener time to remain with one performer before the program turns again. The titles also make the pairing feel intentional within an hour attentive to vocal character and musical contrast.

From there, the blues direction becomes more pronounced. Slim Harpo receives two selections, “King Bee” and “Got Love If You Want It,” creating another compact artist set and linking the hour’s first section to its later blues material. The progression continues with Bo Diddley’s “Mona” and “Can’t Judge a Book…,” two recordings that extend the pattern of giving key performers more than a single appearance. This sequence does not merely stack familiar names; it gives the latter half of the hour a stronger sense of continuity, as one artist’s pair leads into another.

“Harmonica George Smith” is listed for “Blues in the Dark,” followed by Little Willie Foster’s “Crying the Blues,” Clarence Jolly’s “Don’t Leave Me,” and Lightning Slim’s “My Litle Angel Child.” The succession narrows the focus from the broader opening mix toward individual blues performances. Each title and artist is allowed its own place in the sequence, while the broader design keeps the hour from becoming a single-artist feature. It is a closing run that favors movement among voices rather than a single long suite.

Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” provides the hour’s final selection. Its placement is notable because it comes after the concentrated blues sequence of Harmonica George Smith, Little Willie Foster, Clarence Jolly, and Lightning Slim. The closing choice widens the program’s perspective once more, returning the listener to the cross-genre openness established at the hour’s beginning. That structure makes the final hour an effective conclusion to a show that has already traveled through early swing, spirituals, pre-war blues, and Shakey Jake Harris’s extensive featured set.

The hour’s strength is its willingness to hold different musical identities together without forcing them into a single label. The Delta Rhythm Boys, Milt Jackson, Arthur Prysock, Betty Carter, Jimmy Smith, Toni Harper, Slim Harpo, Bo Diddley, and the later blues artists all contribute to an hour that remains unified by programming rather than sameness. It is an expansive finish, attentive to the points where jazz, vocal music, and blues records can coexist in the same late-night listening experience.

Hour 5 Playlist

Miss Me — Delta Rhythm Boys

In the Wood — Milt Jackson

You’ve Changed — Arthur Prysock

Tell Him I Said Hello — Betty Carter

Old Devil Moon — Jimmy Smith

Lady Lonely — Toni Harper

The Velvet Hammer — Toni Harper

King Bee — Slim Harpo

Got Love If You Want It — Slim Harpo

Mona — Bo Diddley

Can’t Judge a Book… — Bo Diddley

Blues in the Dark — Harmonica George Smith

Crying the Blues — Little Willie Foster

Don’t Leave Me — Clarence Jolly

My Litle Angel Child — Lightning Slim

Albatross — Fleetwood Mac