From Bourbon Street to Vegas: a look at New Orleans native and trumpeter Louis Prima, the originator of what’s known as the Vegas lounge sound. Nick Spitzer interviews Prima band members—-saxophonist Sam Butera and singer/ex-wife Keely Smith—and talks with Vegas gamblers and a pastor at a 24-hour wedding-chapel.

Jazz/blues pianist/songwriter Mose Allison, who migrated from the Mississippi village of Tippo to Greenwich Village, is a mellow post-Thanksgiving verbal and musical presence as we club-hop across New Orleans from Snug Harbor to the Saturn Bar.

Our tour of great musical cities continues this week in Memphis, Tennessee. Guests include the Reverend Al Green, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Jerry Lee Lewis and Sun Records producer Sam Phillips. We’ll also cruise the town in a borrowed Caddy, and hang out at Wild Bill’s Juke Joint.

All through September we'll visit the great American cities of music, starting in Austin, Texas, the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital of the World."  We'll hear Western swing, Tejano tunes, and talk with local singer-songwriters Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Joe Ely.