WRTI-FM (Philadelphia, PA)

What he unveiled that evening in Philadelphia, etching his epithet even deeper into musical lore, was a patriotic piece he credited to divine inspiration. This was “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” which we celebrate today not only as Sousa’s most iconic piece but also as the National March of the United States of America.

This July 4th weekend, for our Sounds of America programming, WRTI’s jazz team will present three-song sets of some of the music’s greatest artists. From Friday Mixtape to Sunday Rotation, classic artists like Miles Davis and John Coltrane will sit side-by-side with genre-blurring artist Georgia Anne Muldrow, New York salsa legends Eddie Palmieri and Ray Barretto, the "Father of Soul" Ray Charles, and many more.

In celebration of this momentous Independence Day, America’s semiquincentennial, WRTI will broadcast Treemonisha, a rarely performed yet pivotal opera composed by Scott Joplin. Classical Program Director Zev Kane will host this program at 1 p.m. on July 4, as our weekly opera broadcast. Zev, having spent his formative years in St. Louis — where Joplin wrote The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag — and New York — where Joplin wrote Treemonisha — has a personal connection to the work of Joplin.

Freedom means many different things, and as we barrel toward America’s 250th, we’re giving some thought about what it means to our music. You could do worse than to peruse what’s happening on the scene in the coming week, which ranges from the rugged to the smooth, with spiritual uplift in a few different forms. See you out there. Spotlight: Steven Bernstein ResoNation Trio — Tuesday, Solar Myth Steven Bernstein is a known wildcard in the modern jazz game.

In this 250th anniversary year of the United States, pianist Lara Downes is traveling the country collecting conversations with scholars, searching for our history through songs. Her latest is in Tryon, N.C. to talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Salamishah Tillet about the revered artist who is the subject of her upcoming book. This series of conversations began in a 200-year-old barn in Brattleboro, Vt. and has taken me from Montgomery, Ala.

Miles Davis would have turned 100 this year. To mark the occasion, trumpeter Keyon Harrold brought his band to Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall for a night of tribute and celebration. In this episode of Jazz Night in America, we'll feature a conversation about Davis between Harrold and Christian McBride, and listen to highlights from the concert at Carnegie Hall.

The first Sunday of each month, WRTI broadcasts a special Sunday Classical focused on new releases. Join host Mark Pinto on WRTI on May 3 from 3-6 p.m. for a special Independence Day broadcast, in which he will feature a number of albums connected to America's 250th anniversary. His picks are detailed below.

WRTI presents a special all-American program on The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert, this Sunday, July 5 at 1 p.m. on WRTI 90.1, and Monday, July 6 at 7 p.m. on WRTI HD-2. The Philadelphia Orchestra Celebrates Americamarks the 250th birthday of the United States, with studio and concert recordings from the last half-century. It has been fully 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, right here in Philadelphia.

Alongside fireworks, barbecues, World Cup matches, and every kind of Fourth of July festivity imaginable, this Independence Day offers a chance to celebrate more than 250 years of American musical history. From Friday, July 3 through Sunday, July 5, WRTI will bring you Sounds of America, a special weekend featuring American composers, performers and musical traditions in all their richness and variety.

The brilliant trumpeter, already a leading light of modern jazz at 25, had just spent a rejuvenating long weekend back home in Wilmington, Delaware. He’d visited an old fishing hole with friends, bringing his catch to the family rowhouse at 1013 Poplar Street, where his sister Geneva, also home for a visit, fried it up with some cornbread and black-eyed peas.