>> on a special edition of "america tonight," we hit the high notes. she's changing the sound of classical music. >> you're not supposed to clap, you're not supposed to cough. there's so many things that you're not supposed to do i always found that very off-putting. >> "america tonight's" adam may with baltimore's maestra. a new generation of artist to try out a new beat. also tonight, in the city of love. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the voice of an

american in paris where she discovers mysteries. >> er it's not proven why music moves us so. >> music that goes beyond borders. and: ♪ ♪ ♪ classic a.m.'70s soul. i'll be around. is good evening thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. our special edition of "america tonight" brings us the sound of music. the diagnosis for classical music is dire but then again it

has been for centuries. classical music on its death bed, to be sure, though, 2014 was a tough year for classical music. indianapolis locked out musicians in pay disputes, but a new approach to classical music with a dynamic figure at the podium might make all the difference. "america tonight's" adam may cues up the orchestra from baltimore. >> the pair of power of marin alsop. considered one of the world's leading conductors. there is enormous power in that little baton. while she uses the tool to help the audience's imagination take

flight. she is surprisingly down to earth. >> classical music bam quite extreme in terms of you're not supposed to clap, you're not supposed to cough. there's so many things you're not supposed to do i found that very off-putting. whereas my parents life of classical music was very fun we had a couple of dogs, they would be shouting. >> the child of professional musicians, alsop decided she would become a conductor at the ripe old age of nine. >> were there role models to look up to at that age? >> that didn't occur to me i'd have to say. >> her inspiration is leonard bernstein, famous for making classical music accessible. >> my dad took me to the

symphony and this guy was so approachable, having so much fun. >> his encouragement set her on her life's path. >> his descrrnlg actions action he seemed to set me in the right direction. >> what she saw going to work was a world apart from symphony hall. >> to me, classical music is like inclusion. baltimore has a huge economic divide between the poor and the wealthy. you know that combined with the fact that baltimore is a majority population is african american and yet in our orchestra and in most orchestras there are very very few african american musicians. why is that and what can we do to impact that?

>> 1-2-3 and ♪ ♪ ♪ >> her solution, or-kids. a series of after school music classes. all kinds of music taught in five elementary schools with 50 full and part time teachers all day in some of the roughest parts of baltimore. alsop started the program with $100,000. funding comes from grants and the federal state and local government. >> what do you think these kids get out of this? >> it is transformative for a kid. because you learn incredible skills. you learn that things don't come overnight. you actually have to practice them. the hand-eye coordination, the athleticism involved in playing an instrument, is enormous. then of course there's working with others.

>> alsop's counterpart at or-kids is artistic director dan treyhey. he makes no bones about the direction of their musical mission. >> when i first met marin i said can we solve them through music, we looked at the social ills such as poverty homelessness racism things like that and we started unpacking them. at that point, we actually thought that we're fighting a war here. >> hurt are you -- all right are you playing today? all right, i think that's okay. all right ready. >> it's a war or-kids may be winning note by note. rodney brewing ton is a father of or-kids lead violinist. he is a fan.

>> to me, it's keeping him off the street. it keeps him really busy. puts him in common sense he's a lot older he rhymes reminds me of an older person. >> ms. marin. percussionist has been part of or-kids for five years. >> in my environment there are a lot of people doing like drugs and drinking and all that stuff and some people will actually be affected by that. but since i've been in this program they actually helped me turn can a from stuff like this. >> has or-kids been a success so far? >> we started in 30 kids in 2008 and we have 750 today. if we keep going we should be able to reach 80,000. 83,000 actually. that's number of kids in the baltimore public school system. >> get them all in there? >> yeah, absolutely. >> alsop is a conductor's

conductor, also teaching college students at johns hopkins peabody conservatory. >> when you start doing it how do you do it? >> this is tricky aspect of conducting. you don't actually have an instrument. it's like playing air violin, it's all imagined. you need 40 people to come over everyday. >> mike repper came to the peabody from california specifically to learn from alsop. >> what is specific about marin? >> she's inspirational. she's my all time mentor so -- >> marin alsop gave me a minutey lesson. i have to admit it was a little nerve racking.

>> beings put the finger up? >> don't give up your day job. >> i will not i will not. >> she still battles criticism from some fellow conductors who simply don't see a place for a woman with a baton. >> you were the first female to lead an orchestra like this. >> well, somebody had to be the first i suppose. >> does the glass ceiling still exist? >> oh sure, it exists. i looked arnld thought there would be more women after ten years. not much company 20 years not much company. if i don't change the horizon who's going to. >> she is started a fellowship of female conductors. so far three takers. >> music is a transformative experience for people.

when you come together with other human beings, in one space, the experience can be unique for you. you know, it's not mandated that you hear a piece of music in any particular way. and let going to of everything just for a couple of hours can be liberating. >> it's a message the maestra armed with nothing more than her baton wants to spread to the world. adam may, al jazeera baltimore. >> in a moment, on this special look at "america tonight," the very long run of a timeless american original. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i'll be around? could it be i'm falling in love, the rubber band man?

classics you can't forget and a twist in the story of the spinners. december 21st, 1988 was the right man convicted? >> so many people, at such a high level, had the stake in al-megrahi's guilt >> the most definitive look at this shocking crime >> the major difficulty for the prosecution that there was no evidence >> al jazeera america presents lockerbie part two: case closed you

>> next in our special look at "america tonight's" sound, no city in this country has a greater legacy in american music than detroit. in the '50s and '60s motown brought us superstar stevie

wonder, the spreems supremes and the spinners, a new generation, the original in the mix gives us the twist in the story of the spinners. >> you mind if i say something? okay how y'all doing? >> my name is henry fambrow. i'm a member of the spinners vocal group. i'm 75 years old. 75 years old and still kicking. not kicking that high but i'm kicking. dowop is dowop. that's why they call it dowop. >> that was the dowop. that year 1954 we was in our early teens and we was in high school. and i'm talking about the very beginning of the group

existence. we was only a basketball court outside, and every day in the summertime, all the guys would gather around, and everybody would always say something like, why don't y'all start a group you sound good, why don't y'all start a group. that's felipe, purvis, bobby smith and billy henderson and myself on the right side, at that time, the name was domingos, and bobby came up with the spinners. we knew we weren't going to go to college. we made a pact with each other and we were going to take this and make a career out of it. if we make it, we make it, if we don't, we don't. cheer it up. is ♪ ♪ ♪ they came up with

this song called that's what girls are made for. that's that's what -- i mean that record came out and went to top 40 right away. motown for us was a very, very good college. they taught you how to use the microphone, they taught you how to sit on a it will stool if stool if you sit on a stool. the spinners, this is the very first album on atlantic records. a disk jockey in buffalo new york he turned it over and played "i'll be around." that song took off. >> whenever you need me ♪ ♪ i'll be there ♪ ♪ i'll be arounds ♪ >> around ♪ we kept

doing that, got us about five gold records. this is the star on hollywood walk of fame. we were the second black group to get a star on the hollywood walk of fame. the mills brothers. rubber band man sold a million copies and was a great great hit for us ♪ prepare yourself for the rubber band man ♪ ♪ are >> stopped by the archives. >> oh man this was our 20th anniversary here. we had a writeup in jet magazine. this picture here is before uniforms. >> you used to go catch those concerts? >> the first concert i ever saw was a spinners concert. i said mom dad i'm going to do what they're doing. i didn't know i would be in the

group one day. >> i'm charles washington, i remember when "it's a shame" came out. i said, who's that? >> i'm ronnie moss. i'm the newest member. i'm one of the tenors in the group. >> not interrupt please. this is important. i'm jessie peck. i do the base parts. i do the very large shoes of purvis jackson. it's a dream come true. >> i'm marvin taylor and i do most of bobby's parts. i do all of bobby's parts. what am i talking about. >> this is what i have to do now, i have to step up and be bobby, so to speak. and let him know that it is all right down here. ♪ ♪ how y'all doing i'm with

the spinners, i've been here all my life. ♪ cupid drawback your bow ♪ ♪ and let your arrow go ♪ >> all my guys are gone but me. all the original guys are gone but me and i have put four other guys together and our audience seems to be -- they have accepted the four guys that i have with me now. they are doing a excellent excellent job replacing the guys gone away. we don't want anybody up there thinking, i'm with the spinners now, you ain't nothing. you ability flog until you prove ain't nothing until you prove yourself. the sound you created. because if you don't then you're going to get another sound. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> when i brought these shoes to rehearse at five years ago when henry first started rehearsing me they were pretty good-looking shoes. >> when you go on stage you know, if you don't think you look good, you don't look good. that's how we start having our clothes made so they would be like one-of-a-kind. if you know things are looking good, then you can forget about that part of it. >> i feel like a spin are. >> bobby, he was the last member that went away. when we closed that night me and him had dinner together. he said look, i don't know what's going to happen, but whatever you do man keep this going. that's the last time i talked to him. we go on stage now say the spinners, it's the same. it's no different. it's the same ovation. and the same excitement and i

see it in the audience' faces. >> one and only spinners. >> we go back almost 40 years. bethe new once come along they're great and they make a great sound. doesn't matter. they could put four new people in there, it's still the spinners. ♪ ♪ >> looking back on our career, i think things just fell into place for us. and i wouldn't change a thing. we have a lot on our stage. i still do.

>> that's henry fambrow. an american original and an original spinner. >> earliest days of our nation. even george washington and thomas jefferson had their favorite fiddle toons. picking up new fans of the fiddle. we met greg and jerry cano, fid fiddlers in washington. >> we discovered at an early thaij we areagethat we are easily amused. in things we like to do. ♪ bumblebee buzzing around the tree ♪ ♪ you find it wrong because it will get you in the end ♪ >> if you are going to fit it into a category, we'd call it

old-time music. ♪ net that bumblebee be ♪ ♪ a bumblebee will buzz buzz buzz ♪ ♪ but that isn't all he does does does ♪ ♪ going to let that bumblebee be ♪ a lot of the music we love was recorded in the late '20s, '30s. >> not a lot of people sing that. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> so old time music and fun songs and you know, nothing heavy, just have fun. and that's what we're all about really. >> i hate that part!

>> we're looking up brothers, we're actually twins and i'm greg and i'm jerry and i was born first. and greg came out 26 minutes later. >> and he'll never let me forget it. >> well i've been to the north ♪ ♪ and i've been to the south -- >> in the early history of country music there's always been siblings, duets. and if you are siblings you have the same voice. especially if you're twins. >> gentlygentgenetically matched voices. >> that's what we say. ♪ ♪ >> we really learned from an early age that music was a fun thing to do. >> the thing about old time

music is it's totally accessible. you can have a huge, huge group of people playing it. and all be having fun together. it's kind of a communal -- >> it is, it is totally in the moment. >> and in fact you don't even need to know the tune. can you learn it on the fly. -- you can learn it on the fly. you don't even need to know the person. >> a lot of people become musicians, they don't have to talk at parties. it is extremely social, you can be there for hours and be socializing and don't have to talk. >> there's like a community of people actually around the world that play this music and love it. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that stowndz justthat sounds just

like music. >> we love to play for people, that's just the most fun. it's so great when you are playing, and it looks like people are enjoying it and then that comes back to you. you get more energy. >> it's a feedback loop. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> so far we made $1. >> but we are always playing for each other. and we crack each other up. >> we're trying to crack each other up. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> give me a horse that great big horse give me a great big buckaroo ♪ ♪ and let me wahoo wahoo note note music i never knew but i could wahoo wahoo wahoo here is your big part ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> on stage and we're having fun. that's our message. >> our message we teach by example. we model after example. >> exactly. >> she hall erd wahoo wahoo wahoo wahoo wahoo. >> still ahead on this special edition of "america tonight": ♪ ♪ >> jazz is america's classical music. ♪ ♪ >> and it was made from black people, but also white. it's a mash up of colors, you know. and when you really look into

jazz history it's not just a black thing. >> all that jazz. a high note. ♪ cry me a river ♪ >> with an american in paris. ♪ because i cried a river over you ♪

>> an encore this hour of the special sounds of "america tonight." there's not much more original in american music than jazz. invented here at the turn of the last century. jazz became a staple from down south, to the coast, to the clubs of chicago but nowhere is jazz more loved than in france, especially in the french capital. where the jazz sound meets the paris je ne saisquoi. "america tonight's" sheila macvicar. >> don't be fooled by china moses's fluent french. she's very much an american jazz singer. it's just that china has lived in paris since she was eight years old.

♪ ♪ cry me a river ♪ ♪ cry me a river ♪ ♪ cause i cried a river over you ♪ >> there's something magical about rivers. >> yeah. and the seine is a very magical one. living in like lemarais, every sunday they close down the banks and you see the notre dame. this is here, you look at the time architecture, this is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. it's crazy. it's crazy. i live in a post card. and what -- would i ever want to give that post card up? no. ♪ ♪ je nais pleurais ♪ ♪

>> all this time you've lived in france -- >> i'm still american. >> do the french think of you as american? >> no. i have to remind them. no i'm 100% american. that's why i'm a little crazy. i smile and i talk loud. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it's a different energy. there is still time here. >> time to -- >> have a coffee. >> sit in a cafe. >> sit in a cafe. we still do that here. >> there's less time for that now that china's career is taking off in europe. ♪ waiting for a lover to come ♪ >> after five albums and successful tours in germany and

france, china is a hot talent on the european jazz circuit. ♪ ♪ >> and her talent flows from a deep source. china's mother is dee dee bridgewater, one of the great voices of american jazz. the one accolades and her tribute to another jazz legend, ella fitzgerald. >> you've talked about your mom being a role model for you. >> yes. she came to france when she was 35 with her two kids, freshly divorced, pretty much unknown and rebuilt her name. by herself. and the french artistic world opened their arms to her. >> why france? >> she's always dreamed of france. like i think a lot of black musicians. we have a thing about frarns france because in the '30s and '40s

and '50s you couldn't be considered a human being even. you were in france going through front door, you were part of the party just as much as everybody. the list ever black musicians who -- list of black musicians in europe is extremely long. >> that history started when millions of american soldiers were sent across the atlantic ohelp france defeat germany in world war i. 200,000 african americans segregated, accompanied by their own jazz bands. the war weary french the sound of early jazz was a revelation and an instant hit. many black musicians tired of prejudice they still faced at home, jumped at the chance to stay and dazzle a city where the color lines were more fluid. >> found out there was a lot of

gigs and a lot of playing they could do they would come over and get stuck. >> in the shadow of the sacre koeur, turned a he sleepy neighborhood called montmartre into a bastion. >> when you look at the pictures and you look at rooftops tapped different clubs that were up in montmartre there must have been amazing to see true musicians coming off that bolt, rising and playing in some jazz club. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that must have been cool! >> the french are the biggest supporters of jazz. >> and that's the most american of music forms. >> which is kind of crazy when you think about it.

>> and no one was crazier on stage than a young american dancer josephine baker. >> josephine baker. >> who had escaped race riots in st. louis and caused her own riot when she opened in the champs elisees theater. >> is to get over to the old continent it was a whole 'nother world. >> josephine would become the most famous and most adored ex pailt rotexpatriot. i have two loves my country and paris. after world war ii paris hosted

another revolution, the bee bop era, sound track to a generation of young artists and philosophers. many of its most daring innovators played the city their home. >> when they would get over here and be like i'm that same person playing with dizzy gillespie or charlie park he or louis armstrong, people would freak out! ♪ ♪ ♪ >> jazz is america's classical music. and it was made from black people, but also white. it's a mash up of colors, you know. and when you really look into jazz history it's not just a black thing. >> and with this cross poll

pollennization --ing being her mother pulled her family in. >> my mother was crazy to bring me over when i was eight and my sister who was seven years older than me. she threw me into this culture where they're eating thumper. thumper is hanging in the butcher's window. they're eating thumper that's bambie's best friend. it's not being american, considering the whole world your home and there are no boundaries. >> jazz wasn't always china's destiny. >> my mom pushed me into music. that's when i was trying to rap and i was sing my choruses and my mom played my songs to an a and r without telling me.

>> that's a talent director responsible for signing artists. >> he was like you have a really great voice really particular. but there's one thing. >> i was like what? >> he was like you can't rap. my world shattered. i'm not going to be the next queen latifah? >> you grew up in a family where it was awld about music. >> it was all about art at least trying and going for it. >> and never let an artificial boundary limit your creativity. ♪ ♪ >> today china is jumping between soul and jazz, while preparing her contribution for a concert to honor another american classic. marvin gaye. >> music is probably one of the arts that fascinates people the most because it's just us. i don't need a paintbrush. i don't need music. ♪ ♪ whoa you are baby ♪

>> you are your instrument. >> and it's really interesting that it's still -- it still has to be one of the most fascinating arts there is, we don't know why we're born with this. why it's scientifically proven why music moves us so. ♪ ♪ ♪ emotional stability ♪ ♪ if you don't know the things ♪ ♪ i can't say ♪ ♪ sexual healing ♪ ♪ >> sheila macvicar, al jazeera, paris. >> from a jazz standard to another american sound played on just four strings. the ukulele in hawaiian ukulele

means jumping flea. a reference to a playing picking his way over the strings. there is a new master of the u.k. lay lee picking up a new generation of fans. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i've been playing the ukulele since i was four years old. got into it with my mother. put a ukulele in my hand, taught me two or three chords and i was just looked. my name is jake shimabukuro. i was born in hawaii and i play the ukulele. in hawaii there have been so many great ukulele players. i was exposed to this great

ukulele music people like eddie yukai, who was to me the first great ukulele virtuoso. he played with a group called the sons of hawaii. and they basically redefined traditional hawaiian music. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's what inspired me to play. i started trying to collect every ukulele album that was out there and listening to it and i just fell in love with the instrument. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i think people are starting to see that wow it's such a simple instrument to play. it's affordable, it's portable. and people don't feel like they

need to be a musician to play the instrument. the ukulele is probably the least intimidating of instruments. even if you are an amateur player, people just love it. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> my favorite just sitting in front of a group of kids, trying to play things that they recognize. >> you can play more than just hawaiian music with the ukulele. you can play rock 'n' roll. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> you can play classical music. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> they just light up and like oh, they start singing along. and you make that instant connection. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> i started out performing the hawaii. and you know, getting some recognition from the island. then there was some interest in japan because hawaiian culture is very popular in japan especially hawaiian music. i had a video that someone had posted on youtube. that video happened to go viral. and since then it's just been you know every year it's been pick up, picking up. it just brings people so much joy and happiness. and that's why i play it and that's why i love sharing it with people. >> after the break on "america tonight," the sound of strain. ♪ ♪ >> those big voices behind some of broadway's biggest hits.

"america tonight's" sheila macvicar tells us why they're more at risk than ever of falling silent. ♪ ♪

i he. >> better than to a brought way show recently? complex melodies that are sung in a loud brassy belting style. performers that can reach those high notes and hold them are impressive but it turns out they're taking a risk too. "america tonight's" sheila macvicar tells us today's women of the stage are more vulnerable than ever to injuries that could be career-ending. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> i started doing theater when i was in third grade. when i got to college i went with the intent to pursue musical theatre. that was my major. i went from a small town where i was known for my ability and everyone just knew it was going to make it to new york city where it was really scary and everyone was phenomenally talented. >> when kimberly townsend moved from new jersey to manhattan to pursue that show business dream the odds were already stacked against her. >> i might not be able to make it. >> then townsend suffered a devastating musical injury. one that is more and more common. >> i would be losing my voice and that was the first time i

would think, am i actually going to be able to do it! >> sing me a happy song ♪ >> potential for injury exists in every genre of music. >> david sabella mills is one of new york's most renown vocal instructors. >> is all of a sudden these shows are being written where the female voice is asked to go much higher. >> voice injuries have plagued singers like adele and john mayer. pushing musicians to the edge of their vocal range. vocal sopranos, such as shirley jones seen as laurie in oklahoma. >> but in the past decade, big time belters have come into favor.

the notes are higher and require more vocal heft. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's what happens. >> broadway singing breaks down into two categories. >> so sow prap owe is that -- soprano is that lot offed julie andrews sound. and the regular belt is like patty la belle. so what do you do when you have to get way above that william in wicked there's an f in brooklyn there's and a flat, in your town there are several gs, that women have to sing as if they were singing. you have to increase air pressure. so it's the increase of air pressure that's pushing on the vocal folds. resistance, they have to resist more, resist more, resist more,

it's like going to the gym and have to lift 300 pounds. you're going to strange something. [cheering and applause] >> these are high level vocal athletes. >> doctors treat some of broadway's renowned performers. >> to expect to perform at that level day in day out eight shows a week is frankly kind of ridiculous. >> theater performer, the goal for most people is a smoothly straight edge on -- smooth straight edge on the vocal folds. we would expect that on the population because the load that's placed on the organ goes along with the businesses they're in. >> they also conducted the first ever study of vocal health healthy in broadway singers. the results over 25% has a

vocal injury. one is a nodule, nodules are most common in adult women. >> nodules don't happen overnight, they happen over perhaps months to years of chronically beating the heck out of your vocal chords. >> kimberly townsend is work through her injury. she exercises her voice for hours each day. >> three hours every day for sure and sometimes a lot more. i do vocal range work. i do warmups. >> she sings scales and practices songs which slowly strengthens the muscles that have been weakened by her injury. she'll make a full recovery. but doctors say it could take years before she's as good as new. >> i know that i still have that talent, but it's raw and it needs to be like refined again and shaped again.

>> as broadway braces for another billion dollar year, singers like kimberly townsend are putting it all on the line. sheila macvicar, al jazeera. >> ahead in the final segment of this special "america tonight," a place where they know your name. >> she was born to ramble -- >> and the sounds you warrant to hear. but -- you want to hear. but sit a tradition at the end of the -- but is it a tradition at the end of the road quj. road?

>> finally tonight back in the old good days. a stop at the roadhouse was a

comfort. hot meal, a bar a little music. if you needed it, a bed. those days are mostly gone but there is one of those american treasures left in mendocino county, california and we played a stop there. >> it's a unique place. we're right on the edge of the earth here. ocean's right across the street and rooms upstairs. it's a whole different feeling as soon as you get in the door. it's a small intimate place and it's nice to have that for me as oclub owner where you can actually meet almost everybody that comes through that door. i think that's really kind of something that's lost today. all the intimacy is gone and that's what music is. i mean music is something that you feel it within. and you close your eyes and you get a feeling from it. there's very few clubs like this. the stage like a foot high.

what makes it so unique fawn for the artist is that it is a small place where they can catch their eye and seem a little bit closer. >> my real name is robert miller but i go by bobby. i'm one of these guys where my father always calls me the jack-of-all-trades but masters of none. my wife and i do put a lot of hours in here. we clean the rooms half the time and we do all the bookkeeping. and we're barrel making -- barely making it here, to be honest. if we add up the hours we'd quit. the music we'd be here for years, janice joplin allegedly played here, the temptations some of the wu tang clan played here leon russell has played here can english beat has played

here. what i believe is i'm the only roadhouse left on the west coast on the ocean. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> come on guys. welcome. >> home of the super-onion rings. >> no matter who's here, whether there's two or 200. >> but they all have a common thread. >> we're playing in a place that has history. you know. you can't walk in there and not acknowledge the fact that thousands of people as cool as can be have walked into that same building. and doing their thing. >> can't stand first day coming in the month of june sit around and wait for today ♪ >> this is still the outskirts we're here in mendocino county,

there's notion between us, 30 -- nothing between us, 30 miles of pure forest to highway 101. ♪ she was born to ramble ♪ ♪ daddy would not let her go ♪ >> you know you can play your music, drink to your heart's delight, do whatever you want. then go to bed and wake up by the ocean. it's totally unique that way. >> she hopped aboard a freight train ♪ ♪ bound for mexico ♪ >> i got to tell you as time goes by this place has something that harkens back over time. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. >> you're not playing here because you want to be famous. you're playing here because you want an experience. ♪ i been around this town ♪ ♪ i've seen all kinds of things

♪ >> you want to experience that thing that the other musicians before you that you idolize and have idolized since you were a kid, that's why you come to play here so you can stand on their shoes. >> bo diddley stood on this stage. >> what does that mean to you? >> a lot. we come to history and it's an honor. >> my pop used to play here with his band and my uncle, it seem to go through different owners and being shut down. and i have to say i was really stoked up to hear it has picked up again. >> the reality of owning something, is always different. they say be careful what you wish for. honestly you say that's true but i enjoy it so much. that's just the whole key. i couldn't think of one thing in my life that would give me such fulfillment. i'd be lost. i really don't know what i would

do. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. >> yeah. the roadhouse opened in 1906 and if you do go by, bobby miller will still be there to welcome you. that's our special musical look at "america tonight." you can tell us what you think of the stories you've seen on our program at our website aljazeera.com/americatonight. join the conversation any time on our twitter or facebook page. we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. >> by the thousands, they're sending their government a message. >> ahead of 'em is a humanitarian crisis where tens of thousands of people are without food, water, shelter.

>> a special one hour look at global attacks on free press. tomorrow 9:00 eastern. on al jazeera america. > thanks for being with us this is al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour as day dawns in asia the search resumes for the missing airasia, that disappeared 24 hours ago over the java sea, carrying 162 passengers. >> the combat mission ... the end of an era, the u.s. and n.a.t.o.-led combat mission in afghanistan comes to