News & Press

On Thursday, February 23, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, Smithsonian Folkways celebrates its new album release, Los Gauchos de Roldán: Button Accordion and Bandoneón Music from Northern Uruguay together with the Uruguay Cultural Foundation for the Arts at the Embassy of Uruguay located at 1913 I (Eye) St. NW in Washington DC.

The event is free to the public and those interested in attending are asked to RSVP via email to cultural@uruwashi.org.

A group led by button accordionist José Curbelo, protégé of Uruguayan accordion master Walter Roldán (who is featured on the new album) will perform music from the album. Curbelo, an International Affairs student at The George Washington University and well-versed in this traditional style of Uruguayan dance music, is also the co-producer of the album. A short Smithsonian Folkways-produced documentary film on the making of the album will be presented, followed by a reception with light refreshments, raffle for Smithsonian Folkways prizes, and sale of CDs.

This Smithsonian Folkways album was also supported by Uruguay’s Fondo Nacional de Música (FONAM), and the Comisión del Bicentenario Uruguay. The Ministerio de Educación y Cultura of Uruguay has also declared the project of Cultural Interest.

Accordions and guitars have enlivened the social life of cattle-herding gaucho families of northern Uruguay since the mid 1800s. On Los Gauchos de Roldán, regional musical icon Walter Roldán pumps out time-honored polcas and chotis, Brazilian-tinged maxixas, and more on his button accordion as Chichí Vidiella adds the lush color of the bandoneón.

Bernardo Sanguinetti's guitar and Richardo Cunha's percussive, deep-pitched guitarrón immerse the melodies in a rich nest of rhythms and harmonies, which formerly-exiled singer-songwriter Numa Moraes treats us to five gems of his repertoire.

FREE DOWNLOAD
Please enjoy a free download of “Como mi suegra (Like My Mother-in-Law) - milonga”

RELATED VIDEO
“Los Gauchos de Roldán” Share Down-Home Dance Music Tradition from Uruguay

RELATED FEATURE
Artist Spotlight - Los Gauchos de Roldán

Click here to purchase CDs or downloads

Inspired by traditional son jarocho music of Veracruz, Mexico, and spiked with urban rhythms, rock and R&B, East LA Chicano group Quetzal will release Imaginaries, its 5th album and 1st for Smithsonian Folkways, on Feb. 28, 2012.

Listen to the title-track, "Imaginaries"

Quetzal, called "provocative, heartfelt and strikingly original" by the LA Times and founded by guitarist Quetzal Flores, rose from the ashes of uprisings in LA in 1992 as a vehicle for social commentary and activism

Imaginaries is the 35th release in the Smithsonian Folkways Tradiciones/Traditions series since 2002. The series, a co-production with the Smithsonian Latino Center, showcases the diverse musical heritage of the 50 million Latinos living in the USA. Quetzal will be performing in LA on January 6 @ Fais Do Do. West Coast tour dates for spring will be announced soon.

Enjoy the singing traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah, and other winter holidays with Songs to Make Winter Bright, a soundscape feature from Smithsonian Folkways.

Also consider supporting our nonprofit mission by purchasing a CD or download - all orders greater than $50 automatically qualify for free standard shipping (U.S. only) until December 16th.

Friday, December 2, 2011, would have been the 106th birthday of Folkways Records founder Moses Asch, who released 2,168 albums on the label during his life (an average of one per week!).

Smithsonian Folkways sound production supervisor Pete Reiniger recently dusted off one of Moe’s studio microphones, a Western Electric "Birdcage" model (available from 1938 to 1949) that was likely used on many of the recordings in the small, one-room Folkways Records studio. We’re pleased to say that not only does it still work, but it sounds great!

Click here to listen to the poem "Yaku Taki", recorded with the Western Electric microphone!

One-Day Discount! Save 20% off retail price on any order from folkways.si.edu. Enter code Happy106Moe until December 2, 2011 only.

The Fall 2011 edition of Smithsonian Folkways Magazine explores contemporary expressions of traditional music from Latin America:

• Cover Story: What Makes a Good Smithsonian Folkways Recording? The Sound and Story of the Salvadoran Chanchona


• Artist Spotlight: Los Gauchos de Roldán: Button Accordion and Bandoneón Music from Northern Uruguay


• From the Field: The long, winding, and confusingly numbered road to La India Canela’s house


• Tools for Teaching: Ritmo Embolada: An Introduction to Brazilian Rhythm


• Video Spotlight: Colombian group Cimarrón pushes the frontiers of traditional música llanera

Smithsonian Folkways Magazine is the free, quarterly, online multimedia publication of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. To receive each edition via email, subscribe to our email newsletter on the left-side of the page or click here.

The Anthology of American Folk Music, edited by Harry Smith and released in 1952 by Folkways Records, is one of twenty-five recordings in the class of 2012 inductions in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. It is the second recording from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame, joining "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie (originally released as a single on Asch Records in 1947).

Released at a time when the commercial recording industry had largely congealed into a few relatively homogeneous mass markets, the Anthology successfully answered a widespread need for fresh inspiration, aesthetic authority, and uncommon artistry in popular music. For more than half a century, the Anthology has profoundly influenced fans, ethnomusicologists, music historians, and cultural critics; it has inspired generations of popular musicians, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Jerry Garcia. It played a seminal role in the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, which has had lasting political, economic, and aesthetic impact on American culture. Many of the songs included in the Anthology have now become classics.

The Anthology of American Folk Music was commercially unavailable for many years before a 1997 CD reissue by Smithsonian Folkways that earned two GRAMMY awards.

For more information, please visit www.grammy.org.

On January 31st, 2012, Smithsonian Folkways shines a spotlight on the South American country of Uruguay with Los Gauchos de Roldán's new self-titled album. Though perhaps better known for its standout performance in the 2010 soccer World Cup, the small nation situated between Argentina and Brazil now shares its much-loved, yet little-known, down-home rural dance music.

Listen to "Como mí suegra" (Like My Mother-in-Law)

Watch a mini-documentary about Los Gauchos de Roldán

Accomplished accordionist Walter Roldán leads a group of masters of the traditional guitar and bandoneón in interpreting dance songs inherited from his father and grandmother. A diversity of rhythms - Brazilian maxixa, Uruguayan-style polca, and Afro-Creole milonga - bittersweet minor keys, and a "rustic tango" sensibility reflect the unique multi-cultural mix of the gaucho ranching homelands of northern Uruguay.

"We kept up the struggle not to forget that the two-row button accordion is part of our roots," says Roldán. "The majority of our grandparents and their relatives met at dances where the two-row button accordion was played. Then they fell in love and got married. That’s the way it was, and we keep up the fight."

When renowned musician and songwriter Chip Taylor ("Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning") became a grandfather, he directed his creative energy to writing new songs with and for his grandkids. Golden Kids Rules, available now Smithsonian Folkways, melds the husky, time-worn vocals and the musical instincts of a seasoned performer with the charming artistry of his three young grandchildren. The album overflows with love of family and the musical bonds that hold them together.

Watch Chip Taylor & The Grandkids discuss the making of the album

Download the song "Golden Kids Rules" free!

Ever want to know what the Smithsonian Folkways offices look like? Or maybe meet some of the people that work to keep the non-profit mission going?

Click here to take a tour in style, with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead as your guide!

The Mickey Hart Collection from Smithsonian Folkways, a diverse, 25-album series, is now available for purchase as digital downloads for the first time as well as on-demand CDs.

Click here for more information and to download a free 10-song sampler for a limited time!

The Mickey Hart Collection from Smithsonian Folkways, a diverse, 25-album series, is now available for purchase as digital downloads for the first time as well as on-demand CDs.

Click here for more information and to download a free 10-song sampler for a limited time!

The collection preserves and furthers the Grateful Dead percussionist’s endeavor to cross borders and expand musical horizons. The albums draw from "The World," a series Hart curated that incorporated his solo projects, other artists’ productions, and re-releases of out-of-print titles. Six of the twenty-five albums form the "Endangered Music Project," a collaboration between Mickey Hart and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, which presents recordings from musical traditions at risk.

Congratulations to Professor Theodore Levin, who has won an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for his liner notes to volumes 7, 8 and 9 of the Music of Central Asia series, a co-production of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the Aga Khan Music Initiative. The ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards honor outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music.

"The story of the modern renaissance of Central Asian music is a compelling one, and Ted Levin tells it well," said Smithsonian Folkways Director Daniel Sheehy. "He is an authoritative, engaging writer, and his work nicely complements the extraordinary music and musicians he describes."

Each album in the award-winning series features full-color booklets with extensive liner notes, an instrument glossary, and a DVD with a documentary film about the music and performers. Borderlands, the 10th and final volume of the series scheduled for release in 2012, features pipa virtuoso Wu Man and master musicians from the Silk Route.

Of the nine recipients of the 2011 NEA National Heritage Fellowships, four have been collaborators with Smithsonian Folkways.

They are folklorist Jim Griffith, Hawaiian slack key guitarist Ledward Kaapana, Piedmont songster Warner Williams, and Bulgarian saxophonist Yuri Yunakov. The National Endowment for the Arts recognizes these artists for their significant contributions to the preservation of American folk cultures.

Jim Griffith is the recipient of the Bess Lomax Hawes NEA National Heritage Fellowship for his life-long work and research on the traditions of US-Mexican border cultures. He produced the 2002 album Heroes and Horses: Corridos from the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands.

A specialist of the Hawaiian ukulele and the slack key guitar, Ledward Kaapana has been performing solo and in groups for over 40 years. He performs on the albums Musics of Hawai’i and Folk Masters: Great Performances Recorded Live at the Barns of Wolf Trap.

Maryland guitarist and songster Warner Williams is being honored for his creative achievements to the Piedmont blues, which incorporates, among other genres, fiddle tunes, ragtime, and gospel. He the 2004 Smithsonian Folkways album Blues Highway with long-time partner Jay Summerour.

Saxaphonist Yuri Yunakov performs Bulgarian Roma music and is featured on the 2001 album New York City: Global Beat of the Boroughs.

¡Soy Salvadoreño! Chanchona Music from Eastern El Salvador by third-generation family group Los Hermanos Lovo, is now available as part of the Smithsonian Folkways Tradiciones/Traditions series.

Download "Tres Fronteras" free and listen to one of the most joyous yet little-known regional musics of Latin America.

Smithsonian Folkways remembers award-winning blues legend David "Honeyboy" Edwards (1915-2011), who passed away August 29. His music embodied the continuity from blues’ Delta roots to electric Chicago blues. Honeyboy's string-snapping guitar riffs and soulful voice harkened back to his friends and teachers Charley Patton, Big Joe Williams, Tommy Johnson, and Robert Johnson, who first forged the blues in Delta jooks and at country suppers during the Depression.

Listen to "Big Fat Mama" from his 2001 Smithsonian Folkways album Mississippi Delta Bluesman.

In addition to the official awards determined by a panel of judges, the Independent Music Awards conducts the "Vox Pop Awards" as voted by fans. Four Smithsonian Folkways albums won 2011 Vox Pop Awards, in addition to four judged awards. Here are the 2011 IMA Vox Pop winners:

• Music of Central Asia Vol. 7: In the Shrine of the Heart: Popular Classics from Bukhara and Beyond (tie)
• Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow feat. Kronos Quartet with Alim & Fargana Qasimov and Homayun Sakhi (tie)
• Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals (tie)

• Go Waggaloo t-shirt design by Sonya Cohen Cramer (drawing by Woodie Guthrie)

When renowned musician and songwriter Chip Taylor ("Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning") became a grandfather, he directed his creative energy to writing new songs with and for his grandkids. Golden Kids Rules, available October 18 from Smithsonian Folkways, melds the husky, time-worn vocals and the musical instincts of a seasoned performer with the charming artistry of his three young grandchildren. The album overflows with love of family and the musical bonds that hold them together.

Listen to the song "Golden Kids Rules"

On September 13, two days before Salvadoran independence day, Smithsonian Folkways will release ¡Soy Salvadoreño!, an album of chanchona music by the El Salvadoran expatriate family-band Los Hermanos Lovo. The collection, comprised of Salvadoran standards, borrowed songs from other genres, and two original compositions, stands as a true representation of the musical style that's become synonymous with the group’s homeland.

Listen to "Las Tres Fronteras"

¡Soy Salvadoreño! is the 33rd release in the Smithsonian Folkways Tradiciones/Traditions series since 2002. The series, a co-production with the Smithsonian Latino Center, showcases the diverse musical heritage of the 50 million Latinos living in the USA.

Los Hermanos Lovo feature dual-violin melodies and dance-inducing cumbia rhythms. Listeners will also hear the signature lobo ("wolf") howls and dance to the fast-paced merengue rhythms.

The Summer 2011 edition of Smithsonian Folkways Magazine examines the music from Afghanistan and aims to increase our understanding about the culture of a land that in these times is featured daily in our print and broadcast media

Also featured:

• Artist Spotlight: ¡Cimarrón! Joropo Music from the Plains of Colombia
• Archive Spotlight: Pete Seeger discusses Smithsonian Folkways Recordings mission and purpose
• Tools for Teaching: Smithsonian Folkways Certification Workshop in World Music Pedagogy
• Video Spotlight: Asani present a stirring rendition of "O, Canada"

Smithsonian Folkways Magazine is the free, quarterly, online multimedia publication of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

¡Cimarrón! Joropo Music from the Plains of Colombia, the new "full-throttle" album by the GRAMMY-nominated ensemble Grupo Cimarrón, is now available on CD and Download from folkways.si.edu.

Click here to download "Cimarroneando"

The ensemble is known for their explosive música llanera (plains music) and fast-paced, triple-meter joropo, some of the most exciting music of Latin America. Through their powerful, moody, and unbridled sound, they live up to the meaning of their name Cimarrón: "wild bull".

Free Concert on the National Mall in Washington, DC - Saturday, July 2, 6pm Grupo Cimarrón will make its third Smithsonian Folklife Festival appearance, performing the powerful, unbridled music.

Smithsonian Folkways director Daniel Sheehy challenges you to the Folklife Edition of the "Are You Smarter Than a Curator?" quiz!

This free, five-question quiz will challenge your knowledge of culture and music, and for every question you get right, 10 cents will be donated to Smithsonian Folkways. Plus, U.S. residents will receive a FREE STICKER for taking the quiz.

"Are You Smarter Than a Curator?" is an ongoing initiative to help inform the public about the Smithsonian's mission and work. The nonprofit mission of Smithsonian Folkway is to support cultural diversity and understanding through sound recordings.

Please share this with your friends and support our mission 10 cents at a time!

¡Cimarrón! Joropo Music from the Plains of Colombia, the new "full-throttle" album by the GRAMMY-nominated ensemble Grupo Cimarrón, will be in stores July 26. The album will be available for advance purchase at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival (see below) and via folkways.si.edu in June. This is the group's second release for Smithsonian Folkways

Listen to "Cimarroneando"

The ensemble is known for their explosive música llanera (plains music) and fast-paced, triple-meter joropo, some of the most exciting music of Latin America. Through their powerful, moody, and unbridled sound, they live up to the meaning of their name Cimarrón: "wild bull".

Free Concert on the National Mall in Washington, DC - Saturday, July 2, 6pm Grupo Cimarrón will make its third Smithsonian Folklife Festival appearance, performing the powerful, unbridled music.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and the Spring 2011 edition of Smithsonian Folkways Magazine takes a deeper look at the influential 1973 album A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America.

The album, recorded by three young activists in New York City, reflects the experiences of the first generation to identify with the term and concept “Asian American” – a pan-ethnic association formulated upon a shared history of discrimination. Read more...

Also featured:

• Recording Spotlight: Dan Milner discussed the process of recording 19th-century ballads heard on the new album Civil War Naval Songs
• Archive Spotlight: Watch newly digitized footage of pioneering woman of bluegrass Hazel Dickens (1935-2011) performing at the 1978 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
• Tools for Teaching: Learn and teach about jazz with a new interactive education website
• Video Spotlight: An introduction to jazz music with music curator John Edward Hasse

Smithsonian Folkways Magazine is the free, quarterly, online multimedia publication of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

The 45th Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a free event on the National Mall held June 30 - July 4 and July 7-11 in Washington D.C., features programs on Colombia, The Peace Corps, and Rhythm & Blues.

There will be three free evening concerts featuring Smithsonian Folkways artists as part of the 2011 Festival:

• Saturday, July 2, 6pm Cimarrón will make its third Festival appearance, performing the powerful, unbridled music from the upcoming album ¡Cimarrón! Joropo Music from the Plains of Colombia (available by June 28 at folkways.si.edu).




• Saturday, July 9, 6pm – Ayombe will perform songs from the award-winning album ¡Ayombe! The Heart of Colombia's Música Vallenata.




• Saturday, July 9, 6pm – 2011 Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert featuring Elizabeth Mitchell, Suni Paz, and Chip Taylor and the Grandkids

  This evening of family-friendly music is a tribute to Kate Rinzler. Elizabeth Mitchell recorded two acclaimed albums for Smithsonian Folkways and will make her Festival debut with Suni Paz, singing songs in English and Spanish. Chip Taylor and the Grandkids performs songs from the upcoming album Golden Kids Rules.

April is the 10th anniversary of Jazz Appreciation Month, and Smithsonian Folkways is joining in the celebration with the Smithsonian Folkways Jazz Education Website.

The Smithsonian Folkways Jazz Education Website is a new online exhibition that serves as a perfect introduction to jazz music at home or in the classroom, featuring:

• Interactive music mixer


• Multi-media history of jazz timeline


• Interactive jazz map


• Jazz discussion board

Smithsonian Folkways remembers country and bluegrass singer-songwriter Harley Allen (1956-2011). Allen recorded several albums with his brothers in the 1970's and 80's as "The Allen Brothers", and also recorded with his father, bluegrass legend, Harley "Red" Allen. He also released a number of solo albums for Folkways Records, including Across the Blueridge Mountains and Suzanne with Mike Lilly.

Known more recently for his songwriting, Allen's compositions were recorded by popular singers Alan Jackson, John Michael Montgomery, Blake Shelton, and Gary Allan. In 2002, he won two GRAMMY awards for backing-vocals on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", from the soundtrack to the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

We are pleased to announce that Smithsonian Folkways now accepts PayPal as an alternative payment method.

The next time you’re browsing our collection of recordings from around the world you'll enjoy the option of paying with the safety and convenience of your PayPal account.

Two new collections of Civil War Songs, released to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, are now availble: A Treasury of Civil War Songs by Tom Glazer and Civil War Naval Song by Dan Milner with guests. One song from each album is available as a free download for a limited time!

Reissued for the first time since its 1973 release, A Treasury of Civil War Songs revisits 25 of the Civil War’s most enduring folk songs, including "John Brown’s Body" and "The Battle Cry of Freedom" along with lesser known material that truly helps to embrace the spirit and travail of the times.

Conceived, researched, produced and performed by renowned folk singer Dan Milner, Civil War Navy Songs is a newly recorded collection of 12 period wartime ballads and hymns. Each performance on the record is done using instruments from the era to help preserve the songs’ integrity and tone—with Milner trading off vocal duties with David Coffin and Jeff Davis as the immigrant, the Yankee and the rebel, respectively. The battles touched on here included Mobile Bay, Hampton Roads and the sinking of the Alabama.

Click here to listen to an hour-long playlist of more Civil War-era songs and sounds from Smithsonian Folkways.

For the third consecutive year, Smithsonian Folkways has won multiple Independent Music Awards as selected by a panel of judges.

Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals, an album from the leading exponents of Central Asia's rich and diverse musical heritage, earned the award for "Best Word Traditional Song".

Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow - A bold collaboration between America's premier new music quartet, Azerbaijan's best-loved traditional singer and Afghanistan's leading rubab player, earned the award for "Best Music Video, Long Form".

Rising Sun Melodies, by Ola Belle Reed, earned the "Best Reissue Album", and Classic Appalachian Blues, a distinctive regional blend of European and African styles and sounds born at the cultural crossroads of railroad camps, mines, and rural settlements, earned the "Best Album Compilation" award.

In total, eighteen Smithsonian Folkways projects were selected as finalists for the 10th Independent Music Awards. Finalists are also eligible for the Vox Populi awards as determined by fan voting and voting is open through July 11th,2011. Click here to submit your votes. Here is the complete list of Smithsonian Folkways finalists:

• "Dhun: Misra Kirwani", from Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals Dhun (Best World Traditional Song)


• "Leyla", from Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow, (Best World Traditional Song)
  


• "Don’t I Fit in My Daddy’s Shoes", from Go Waggaloo, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family (Best Children’s Song)
  


• "See What You Done Done" by Baby Tate, from Classic Appalachian Blues, Various Artist (Best Blues Song)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals, Various Artists (Best World Traditional Album)
  


• Rising Sun Melodies, Ola Belle Reed (Best Reissue Album)
  


• Rappahannock Blues, John Jackson (Best Live Performance Album and Best Blues Album)
  


• Classic Appalachian Blues, Various Artists (Best Compilation Album)
  


• Classic Sounds of New Orleans, Various Artists (Best Compilation Album)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals, Various Artists (Best Music Video - Long Form)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow, Various Artists (Best Music Video - Long Form)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 7: In the Shrine of the Heart: Popular Classics from Bukhara and Beyond, Various Artists (Best Music Video - Long Form)
  


• The Sounds of Mariachi: Lessons in Mariachi Performance, Nati Cano's Mariachi Los Camperos, Mariachi Chula Vista, Jesús "Chuy" Guzman, Mark Fogelquist (Best Music Video)
  


• David Evans, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family-Press Photo (Best Design Artist / Band Publicity Photography)
  


• Harry Smith/Got Folk? T-Shirt, Harry Smith (Best Design Swag)
  


• Go Waggaloo T-Shirt, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family (Best Design Swag)
  


• Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Website (Best Music Website Design)
  

Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow has been nominated as a finalist for a 2011 Songlines Music Award in the "cross-cultural collaboration category. The album features The Kronos Quartet from San Francisco with Alim & Fargana Qasimov from Azerbaijan and Homayun Sakhi from Afghanistan. Click here to hear an excerpt.

JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology, the new 111-track, 6-CD, 200-page compendium of the great American musical invention, is availabe from music retailers today. Smithsonian Folkways continues to offer the Complete Jazz Package, including the JAZZ Anthology, JAZZ poster, and JAZZ t-shirt for a special price.

What others are saying about JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology:

• "...the Smithsonian anthology is a landmark achievement." - Washington Post


• "The best single introduction to America's first great musical form." - Time Magazine


• "...big news and likely to start some professors rethinking their syllabi." - Boston Globe


• Learn how Smithsonian Folkways selected the songs on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show


• Listen to executive producer Richard Burgess discuss the set with PRI's Tavis Smiley

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will mark the 10th annual Jazz Appreciation Month in April with a monthlong celebration of jazz featuring performances, talks, tours and family-oriented events. This year’s programming will examine the legacies of women in jazz

Among the celebration events is the March 29th Smithsonian Folkways release of JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology, which features many legendary women including Mary Lou Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday among its 111-tracks of influential performances

Please visit smithsonianjazz.org for a complete list of programs and events, including performances by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

Smithsonian Folkways remembers folk singer and promoter Jack Hardy (1947-2011), who co-founded Fast Folk Musical Magazine (now available via Smithsonian Folkways). Fast Folk supported new and emerging songwriters through a monthly magazine and record release. Hardy was also the founder of the Cornelia Street Songwriter Exchange in Greenwich Village. In addition, to his own excellent albums, Hardy was a mentor to such writers as Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Steve Forbert, Shawn Colvin and Lucy Kaplansky. The Fast Folk collection, which includes 98 albums, was acquired by Smithsonian Folkways in 2000.

On April 5, Smithsonian Folkways will release two albums to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War: A Treasury of Civil War Songs by Tom Glazer and Civil War Naval Song by Dan Milner with guests.

Reissued for the first time since its 1973 release, A Treasury of Civil War Songs revisits 25 of the Civil War’s most enduring folk songs, including "John Brown’s Body" and "The Battle Cry of Freedom" along with lesser known material that truly helps to embrace the spirit and travail of the times. Culled from both Confederate and Union sources, A Treasury of Civil War Songs is a vivid testament to America’s past as written by the men and women who lived it.

Listen to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"

Conceived, researched, produced and performed by renowned folk singer Dan Milner, Civil War Navy Songs is a newly recorded collection of 12 period wartime ballads and hymns. Each performance on the record is done using instruments from the era to help preserve the songs’ integrity and tone—with Milner trading off vocal duties with David Coffin and Jeff Davis as the immigrant, the Yankee and the rebel, respectively. The battles touched on here included Mobile Bay, Hampton Roads and the sinking of the Alabama. The record itself is a milestone and stands as the first ever dedicated to the Civil War at sea.

Listen to "The Monitor & Merrimac"

Eighteen Smithsonian Folkways albums and songs were selected as finalists for the 10th Independent Music Awards. Finalists are eligible for the Vox Populi awards as determined by fan voting and voting is open through July 11th,2011. Click here to submit your votes. The complete list of Smithsonian Folkways Album/Song Finalists:

• "Dhun: Misra Kirwani", from Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals Dhun (Best World Traditional Song)


• "Leyla", from Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow, (Best World Traditional Song)
  


• "Don’t I Fit in My Daddy’s Shoes", from Go Waggaloo, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family (Best Children’s Song)
  


• "See What You Done Done" by Baby Tate, from Classic Appalachian Blues, Various Artist (Best Blues Song)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals, Various Artists (Best World Traditional Album)
  


• Rising Sun Melodies, Ola Belle Reed (Best Reissue Album)
  


• Rappahannock Blues, John Jackson (Best Live Performance Album and Best Blues Album)
  


• Classic Appalachian Blues, Various Artists (Best Compilation Album)
  


• Classic Sounds of New Orleans, Various Artists (Best Compilation Album)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals, Various Artists (Best Music Video - Long Form)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow, Various Artists (Best Music Video - Long Form)
  


• Music of Central Asia Vol. 7: In the Shrine of the Heart: Popular Classics from Bukhara and Beyond, Various Artists (Best Music Video - Long Form)
  


• The Sounds of Mariachi: Lessons in Mariachi Performance, Nati Cano's Mariachi Los Camperos, Mariachi Chula Vista, Jesús "Chuy" Guzman, Mark Fogelquist (Best Music Video)
  


• David Evans, Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family-Press Photo (Best Design Artist / Band Publicity Photography)
  


• Harry Smith/Got Folk? T-Shirt, Harry Smith (Best Design Swag)
  


• Go Waggaloo T-Shirt, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family (Best Design Swag)
  


• Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Website (Best Music Website Design)
  

A Life of Song, the new album by Ella Jenkins, is now available on CD or digital download format. Also, Watch this new video entitled "We Love You Ella!"

In A Life of Song, Ella Jenkins, "The First Lady of Children’s Music," offers stories and songs that speak to her youthful years as an African American child in a multi-cultural world. Her career of more than a half century earned her the first Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY award for a children’s music artist, and her dozens of recordings teach us to learn from one another while taking pride in our own heritage. This African American Legacy recording of Ella singing with children from the Cool Classics after-school program spotlights her own heritage while showing her delight for the traditions of others.

Ella Jenkins, the First Lady of Children's Music, will be honored with two upcoming awards. On February 26th, Ella will receive a "Living Legend Award" for her service to humantiy as part of a gala ceremony in Ashton, Md that is free and open to the public. Civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis and Frazier & Virginia Mathis from the aid organization Global Vessels will also be honored. For more information, please visit www.livinglegendsawards.org.

On April 1st, 2011, Urban Gateways will honor Ella as part of their 50th Anniversary Gala event in Chigago, Il. For more details, please visit www.urbangatweays.org.

Ella has also announced two upcoming Chicago-area concerts. On Sunday, February 6th, Ella will perform at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Click here for details. On Sunday, February 20th, Ella will perform at the Wonder Works Childrens Museum. Click here for details.

On February 22, the African American Legacy Series, a joint production of Smithsonian Folkways and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture will release A Life of Song from musician and educator Ella Jenkins, known as "The First Lady of Children's Music."

On February 22, the African American Legacy Series, a joint production of Smithsonian Folkways and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture will release A Life of Song from musician and educator Ella Jenkins, known as "The First Lady of Children's Music."

On A Life of Song, her 29th release for Folkways since 1957, Jenkins offers stories and songs that speak to her years growing up as an African American child in multicultural Chicago. Children from Chicago's Donoghue Elementary and Horace Greeley Elementary schools join her in call-and-response singing on well-known songs including "Pick a Bale of Cotton" and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," a world that in Jenkins' version includes Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Sacajawea, and John F. Kennedy. The album's 21 tracks also include songs from Ella's 1920s Chicago childhood such as "One Two Three O'Leary," which in this rendition is sung both in English and Spanish. 13 songs from 'A Life of Song' were recorded by Ella for the first time for this release.

The album is part of the 2011 Smithsonian celebration of Black History Month.

To learn more about Ella Jenkins, please listen to this new episode of Sound Sessions from Smithsonian Folkways featuring an hour-long interview with the legendary artist.

JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology, the new 111-track, 6-CD, 200-page compendium of the great American musical invention, traces the turning points of this 20th-century tale through its legendary innovators and notable styles.

JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology will be available in stores March 29, 2011 but you can pre-order directly from Smithsonian Folkways, with an option to add an exclusive JAZZ poster and t-shirt. Click here to pre-order.

*Note: pre-orders will ship in March, 2011*

Take the Smithsonian Jazz Challenge!

Visit the popular quiz-site Sporcle.com to see how many songs from JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology you can recognize. There is a 25-song version and the full 111-song ultimate challenge.

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 would have been the 105th birthday of Folkways Records founder Moses Asch, who released 2,168 albums on Folkways Records during his life (an average of one per week!).

Please join us in wishing Moe a happy birthday, and enjoy as our gift a free download of "Talkin’ Moe Asch’", written and performed by California-based "singer songfighter" Ross Altman.

One-Day Discount! Save 20% off retail price on any order from folkways.si.edu. Enter code Happy105Moe now until Thursday, December 2, 2010 only.

Enjoy the singing traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah, and other winter holidays with Songs to Make Winter Bright, a soundscape feature from Smithsonian Folkways.

Also consider supporting our nonprofit mission by purchasing a CD or download - all orders greater than $50 automatically qualify for free standard shipping (U.S. only) until December 16th.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #25 - Love, which has a simple theme - love songs from around the world.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #24 - Struggle and Protest, which highlights Moses Asch's advocacy for underdogs who spoke up for themselves through song.

The fall issue of Smithsonian Folkways Magazine features a retrospective on the life and career of Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981), 100 years after her birth.

Also featured:

• Artist Spotlight: Elizabeth Mitchell: keeping it simple
• Archive Spotlight: Irwin Silber, paying tribute to a friend and partner
• Tools for Teaching: Lesson Plan: "Oh John the Rabbit"
• Video Spotlight: Venezuelan group Maestros del Joropo Oriental discuss their influences

Smithsonian Folkways Magazine is the free, quarterly, online multimedia publication of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Sunny Day, the new album from Elizabeth Mitchell with family and friends, recently won three awards. It earned the National Parenting Publications (NAPPA) Gold Award, the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Best Audio Award, and was named one of Dr. Toy's 100 Best Children's Products of 2010.

Click here to listen to a recent interview and performace by Elizabeth Mitchell on NPR's All Things Considered

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #23 - Piano, which features some of the very best jazz and blues pianists of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

The album cover for Sunny Day, the new children's music album from Elizabeth Mitchell, shows two young women wearing handmade masks.

Now you can create your own Sunny Day mask and share your designs on Flickr!

This is a great activity for kids of all ages, and a few lucky entrants will be chosen at random to win prizes, including autographed Sunny Day CDs, posters, and even a handmade mask created by band member (and Elizabeth's daughter) Storey!

Sunny Day, the new album by Elizabeth Mitchell, is now available on CD or digital download format.

A true family affair, Sunny Day features performances with Mitchell's husband and musical partner, Daniel Littleton, their nine-year-old daughter Storey, and additional family and friends, including special guests Levon Helm, Dan Zanes, Jon Langford, and the Children of Agape choir of South Africa.

• Free download and video of "Oh, John the Rabbit"
• See Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower On Tour

On October 5th, Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower will release Sunny Day, a new album of handmade music for folks of all ages. Stay tuned for more information about this album, but in the meantime enjoy this sneak peek:

• Watch the video for "Oh, John the Rabbit"
• Free song download of "Oh, John the Rabbit"

Her songs "I've Endured," "High on the Mountain," "My Epitaph," and many others, now oft-covered standards in jam sessions and on recordings of far more-recognized performers, forge real-life experiences into music steeled with determination, family tradition, and commanding presence.

Click here for more information on the new album, including a video interview with family and friends and a free download of "Look Down That Lonesome Road."

From street parades to nightclubs, from church houses to dance halls, music has been essential to the unique culture of New Orleans, and Smithsonian Folkways honors the Crescent City's heritage with Classic Sounds of New Orleans, available now.

Click here for more information and two free song downloads from this newest addition to the Classic Series from Smithsonian Folkways.

Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Clarence "Tom" Ashley was recently inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, located in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Ashley, an American folk singer and banjo player, was inducted in the "Pioneer Artist Category", and joins Smithsonian Folkways recording artists Ola Belle Reed, Mike Seeger, and Doc Watson, and Smithsonian folklorist Ralph Rinzler as inductees.

Clarence "Tom" Ashley was born in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1895. He acquired the nickname "Tom" from his grandfather, and for many years people thought that Clarence and Tom were two different people. Ashley began performing as a banjo player and singer at the age of 16, traveling for many years throughout Appalachia as a member of a medicine show. He recorded several original songs during the 1920's. Two of his recordings, "The Coo-Coo Bird" and "The House Carpenter", are included in Smithsonian Folkways' Anthology of American Folk Music. An injury to his hand and changing economic conditions caused Ashley to abandon his career in the 1940's.

In 1960, a chance meeting with Ralph Rinzler at the Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Union Grove, NC, resulted in the revitalization of his career and the exposure of his music to a new generation of listeners. Beginning in 1960, Ashley recorded two important albums with Doc Watson on Folkways Records. These albums have been reissued by Smithsonian Folkways as a single collection entitled Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley: The Original Folkways Recordings, 1960-1962. Ashley also recorded an album of his songs in 1966 with Tex Isley. This collection, entitled Clarence Ashley and Tex Isley is also available from Smithsonian Folkways. Ashley died in 1967.

For more information about Smithsonian Folkways recordings by Clarence "Tom" Ashley, click here.

The summer issue of Smithsonian Folkways Magazine features an in-depth look at blues music from the Appalachian region, including a spotlight on the career of John Jackson. Also featured:

• Archive Spotlight: Pete Seeger sings the National Anthem of the United States.
• Tools for Teaching: Doc Watson demonstrates fingerpicking guitar on the song "Deep River Blues."

Smithsonian Folkways Magazine is an online-only, multimedia publication of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

On June 27th and July 3rd, Smithsonian Folkways will present two free concerts on the National Mall in Washington D.C. as part of the 2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival!

On Saturday, July 3rd, the 2010 Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert features pioneering women of bluegrass Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard and singer, scholar, and activist Bernice Johnson Reagon. The concert will honor Folkways Records founder Moses Asch (1905-1986), for whom Dickens, Gerrard, and Reagon recorded several albums. The concert will be at the "Asian Fusions" stage from 6-8 p.m.

On Sunday, June 27th, Smithsonian Folkways presents an evening of Latin American music featuring Chanchona Los Hermanos Lovo and Los Reyes de Albuquerque.

Los Hermanos Lovo, based in Leesburg, VA, play Cumbia dance-music from El Salvador that will be featured on an upcoming Smithsonian Folkways album. Los Reyes de Albuquerque perform a variety of traditional genres such as corridos, polkas, and canción ranchera from northern New Mexico. The group has entertained audiences with traditional music for more than 50 years and their co-founder, Roberto Martínez Sr., recently donated his life's work, Minority Owned Record Enterprises (M.O.R.E.) to the Smithsonian Folkways collection. The concert willl take place at the El Salón de México Stage from 6-8 pm.

Both concerts are free and open to the public. Please visit festival.si.edu for more information.

Rappahanock Blues, a new collection of live recordings by songster John Jackson (1924-2002), is now available. Click here for more information and to access a free song download of "Frankie and Johnny for a limited time.

The album is the latest addition to Smithsonian Folkways' African American Legacy Recordings series, co-produced with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Smithsonian Folkways will release "Rappahannock Blues," a 20-track album by John Jackson, on June 15. Jackson (1924-2002) was the most important black Appalachian musician to come to broad public attention during the mid-1960s. The album is the latest addition to Smithsonian Folkways' African American Legacy Recordings series, co-produced with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Raised in a large, musical farm family in Rappahannock County, Virginia, Jackson got his first guitar, bought by his oldest sister Mary for $3.75 from a catalog, when he was nine. He learned a wide-ranging stock of songs from his father, his aunt Etta and from 78-rpm recordings by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson, but after a fight at a house party in 1946, didn't touch an instrument for nearly 20 years.

Rediscovered at a gas station by folklorist Chuck Perdue, Jackson was quickly recorded by Arhoolie in 1964, laying down 90 songs in 12 hours in his first session. For the next three decades, he enthralled audiences with his vintage style and repertoire, though he worked day jobs his entire career, including a long-stint as a gravedigger and cemetery caretaker.

Although black Appalachian music never received the attention given to the transition from Delta blues to Chicago blues and then to rock and roll, in the mountains a shared black and white string band tradition served as the basis for American roots music, ranging from bluegrass to regional rockabilly. Emphasizing that shared heritage, Jackson toured Asia in 1984 with Ricky Skaggs, Buck White and Jerry Douglas. Two years later, he was designated a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Culled from hundreds of live concert recordings in the Smithsonian Folkways archives, the twenty tracks of 'Rappahannock Blues,' which include Blind Blake's "Too Tight Rag," "West Coast Rag" and "Diddy Wah Diddy," Mississippi John Hurt's "Candy Man," and "Red River Blues," recorded by Josh White as "Blood Red River" and by Blind Boy Fuller as "Bye Bye Baby," highlight John Jackson the way he said he most wanted to be remembered - as a bluesman. All but two of the tracks are previously unreleased.

The release of "Rappahannock Blues" will be celebrated at the "2010 Tinner Hill Blues Festival - A Tribute to John Jackson", June 10-13, 2010 in Falls Church, VA (Washington DC area). For more information, visit www.tinnerhill.org

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #22 - Rainbow, which asks "what means a rainbow?"

The spring issue of Smithsonian Folkways Magazine chronicles the cross-cultural collaborations that resulted in Rainbow, Volume 8 of the Music of Central Asia Series.

Read about how Azerbaijani singers Alim and Fargana Qasimov, Afghan rubâb player Homayun Sakhi, and American group Kronos Quartet moved beyond superficial grooves towards a deeper music connection.

The Music of Central Asia series, a co-produciton of Smithsonian Folkways and the Aga Khan Music Initiative, currently features nine CD/DVD sets.

GRAMMY-winner Nati Cano, alongside an accomplished collection of musicians and educators, teaches mariachi technique, performance, and lore in this first-ever mariachi ensemble instructional DVD.

Watch a sample

Ronald Clyne at Folkways is a new 64-page anthology dedicated to the artist who was largely responsible for the label's striking visual appearance. Featuring more than 200 examples of Clyne's work and an extensive essay, this booklet from United Editions is available in the U.S. exclusively at folkways.si.edu.

Pick up a Smithsonian Folkways baseball hat for yourself or a friend and save 20% through May 7th with code LISTENUPHAT.

Folkways.si.edu, the Smithsonian Folkways web site, is one of five nominees in the "Cultural Institutions" category of the 14th annual webby awards. The Webby award-winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.

The nomination also includes eligibility in the same category for the "People's Voice Awards", which is selected by the general public. The winner of both awards will be announced May 4th. Folkways.si.edu was designed in partnership with Visual Dialogue, a Boston-based design firm also responsible for many Smithsonian Folkways album packages.

Smithsonian Folkways joins the National Museum of Natural History, nominated for "The Ocean Hall Portal," as nominees from the Smithsonian Institution.

Vote for Smithsonian Folkways in the People's Voice awards!

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #21 - Children's Music, an exploration of the huge collection of children's music on Smithsonian Folkways, including music from around the world, music for and from children at play, at school, and even in the workplace.

Tom Wisner, the "Bard of the Chesapeake Bay" who recorded 2 albums for Folkways Records, passed away on April 2nd at age 79. Working as a musician, teacher and biologist, Wisner dedicated his life to preserving and recording the waterways culture in and around the Bay area.

He used songs about the Chesapeake Bay environment to raise awareness for the natural life and culture surrounding the Bay waters. Wisner also devoted much of his time working with local elementary school students, creating art projects and musicals about protecting the water life of the region.

Jeff Place, Smithsonian Folkways archivist, comments on Wisner's contributions to the Smithsonian Folkways collection and early collaborations with Moses Asch: "When Tom Wisner from Southern Maryland visited Folkways Records owner Moses Asch in New York City in 1979, Asch was immediately impressed by the passion in Wisner's music, how it really told the story of one particular region of the United States. Asch was totally supportive of Wisner and released two albums, both written, recorded, and designed by Tom. Wisner personified the phrase, ‘think globally, act locally'. He was a man dedicated to his beliefs who lived a humble life in a small house by the Patuxent River. He was beloved among neighbors, watermen, and Governors. His spirit will be missed."

Click here for information on Tom Wisner's recordings for Smithsonian Folkways

In 1950, Moses Asch issued the first Folkways albums in the vinyl LP format. Sixty years later, Smithsonian Folkways now offers vinyl on folkways.si.edu, including a mix of older releases plus several newly printed reissues. The reissues feature the same quality packaging and complete liner notes as the originals.

Click here to see the complete list of available vinyl.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the Aga Khan Music Initiative present the latest installments of the unprecedented, comprehensive, and GRAMMY-nominated "Music of Central Asia" series.

The three new CD/DVD sets feature master Central Asian musicians performing in traditional ensembles as well as new collaborations with, among others, the Kronos Quartet from the United States and santurist Rahul Sharma from India.

The CD/DVDs will be available in stores March 30th, but are available now from folkways.si.edu. In addition, listeners may stream all three albums in their entirety through April 6th.

• More about the Music of Central Asia series
• Listen to Volumes 7-9
• Watch excerpts from each DVD

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #20 - Pete Did That?, an exploration of the vast variety of Pete Seeger's musical interests, and subscribe to the podcast here.

On March 30th, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and the Aga Khan Music Initiative will release the latest installment, Vols. 7-9, of the unprecedented, comprehensive, and GRAMMY-nominated "Music of Central Asia" series.

• In the Shrine of the Heart: Popular Classics from Bukhara and Beyond (Vol. 7)
• Rainbow: Kronos Quartet with Alim and Fargana Qasimov and Homayun Sakhi (Vol. 8)
• In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals (Vol. 9)

These sets of CD-DVDs reflect the profound musical diversity of Central Asia. Each disc features full-color booklets with extensive liner notes, an instrument glossary and a DVD with a documentary film about the music and performers.

Please subscribe to the Smithsonian Folkways email newsletter to find out about soon-to-be-announced exclusive offers from folkways.si.edu, and become a fan of the Music of Central Asia Series on Facebook.

Music of Central Asia Vol. 7: In the Shrine of the Heart: Popular Classics from Bukhara and Beyond

Generations of Uzbek and Tajik singer-songwriters bequeathed a remarkable legacy of lyrical ballads, devotional songs and instrumental pieces to the gifted master-musicians who perform on In the Shrine of the Heart (Vol. 7). Rooted in the sophisticated urban song traditions of Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Qoqand, and Khiva, these popular classics come alive in superbly recorded new performances. The lyrics are drawn from a vast corpus of classical poetry and other forms of verse written in Persian and a variety of Turkic languages and dialects between the 10th and 20th centuries, and are set to new melodies.

Music of Central Asia Vol. 8: Rainbow: Kronos Quartet with Alim and Fargana Qasimov and Homayun Sakhi

Rainbow (Vol. 8) consists of two bold collaborations with the Kronos Quartet, America's premier new-music quartet, with each reaching across continents and cultures, and across musical categories and conventions. The first is the Kronos Quartet's collaboration with renowned rubab player Homayun Sakhi on Rainbow, his composition for rubab, string quartet, and percussion. Not a composer who notates his compositions, Sakhi composed and recorded the rubab part on his own instrument, and realized the string quartet sounds on a Casio synthesizer. These recordings were given to long time Kronos Quartet collaborator and award-winning concert pianist, composer, arranger and musical festival founder Stephen Prutsman, who transcribed the piece and wrote it out in Western music notation. Sakhi and the Kronos Quartet recorded the composition at Skywalker Ranch, outside San Francisco.

The other collaboration is with the Alim Qasimov Ensemble on five Azerbaijani popular song arrangements. With the help of performer-composer-arranger Jacob Garchik, Kronos and the Qasimov ensemble were able to take Azerbaijan arrangement's that Qasimov had turned into quasi-improvisations, and turn them back into arrangements. These songs were enthusiastically received during a world premiere at London's Barbican Centre during Ramadan Nights, and recorded the day after the concert.

On March 14th the Kronos Quartet will perform at Carnegie Hall with Qasimov and Sakhi in the Quartet's Music Without Borders showcase in support of Rainbow.

Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters from the Lands of the Mughals

On In the Footsteps of Babur (Vol. 9) five brilliant instrumentalists illuminate the musical legacy of the Mughal Empire, founded five centuries ago by Emperor Babur. The album is an exploration of the common ground of musical styles, sensibilities and instruments from Central Asia, Afghanistan and North India. The CD features raga, or classical Indian music, played on Afghan rubab, tabla and santur. as well as popular and folk music genres. The musicians, the individual tracks and the album as a whole reflect the artistic synthesis characteristic of both the Mughal Empire and today's globalized world.

Classic Appalachian Blues from Smithsonian Folkways, a 21-track collection drawn from the Smithsonian Folkways archives and performances at the Smithsonian Folklife festival, is now available. Click here for a free download from the collection, which is the 18th release overall and the fourth blues release in the Classic series from Smithsonian Folkways.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #19 - It Came from Canada and subscribe to the podcast here.

Congratulations to Los Texmaniacs for winning the 2009 GRAMMY award for Best Tejano Album for Borders y Bailes. This is the group's first GRAMMY win. The Texas-Mexican conjunto band, armed "with an assortment of Tex-Mex beats infectious enough to get even the most sedentary crowd moving" (Washington Post), produced an album that breathes new life into the century-old music of the Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Los Texmaniacs, whose members Max Baca and David Farias have each previously been awarded a GRAMMY with other groups, recorded Borders Y Bailes in San Antonio, Texas after appearing at the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. "Oh, my God. We did it," said bandleader Max Baca about the win, "This is hip music that everybody in the world can relate to, with the traditional conjunto elements.

This is the fifth GRAMMY award for Smithsonian Folkways, and the second year in a row the nonprofit record label has won an award after Nati Cano's Mariachi Los Camperos earned the 2008 Best Regional Mexican Album award. The Tradiciones/Traditions Series of Latino Music from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (of which Borders y Bailes is a part), now numbers 30 albums and has earned two GRAMMY awards, a 2007 LATIN GRAMMY, and seven GRAMMY and LATIN GRAMMY award nominations.

Overall, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has received 20 GRAMMY award nominations (including award winners) since 1997, including 14 nominations since 2004. In addition, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artists Pete Seeger, Ella Jenkins, and Doc Watson have been awarded GRAMMY Association Lifetime Acheivement Awards, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings contributed to the 1998 GRAMMY-winning album Folkways -- A Vision Shared: A Tribute To Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly and the 1993 GRAMMY-nominated album Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era.

• Click here for a list of awards and nominations earned by Smithsonian Folkways' artists.

For the second consecutive year, two Smithsonian Folkways albums have won an Independent Music Award as selected by a panel of judges. ¡Y Que Viva Venezuela! Maestros del Joropo Oriental, an all-star recording by Venezuela's masters of a rediscovered musical tradition, earned the Best Latin Album award and Blodeugerdd: Song of the Flowers - An Anthology of Welsh Music and Song, a beautiful collection of contemporary Welsh folk music, earned the Best Traditional World album.

Eleven additional Smithsonian Folkways albums or songs were finalists, and both winners and finalists are eligible for the Vox Populi awards as determined by fan voting. Voting is open through June 25th, 2010. Click here to submit your votes. The complete list of Smithsonian Folkways Album/Song Finalists (*indicates IMA Award Winner):

• 50 Years: Where Do You Come From Where Do You Go, The New Lost City Ramblers (Best Americana Album)
• Richmond Blues, Cephas & Wiggins (Best Blues Album)
• Classic Piano Blues, Various Artists (Best Blues Album)
• Honk-Hiss-Tweet-GGGGGGGGG and Other Children's Favorites, Tom Glazer (Best Children's Music Album)
• Borders y Bailes, Los Texmaniacs (Best Latin Album)
• ¡Y Que Viva Venezuela! Maestros del Joropo Oriental, Various Artists (Best Latin Album)*
• Son de Mi Tierra, Son de Madera (Best Latin Album)
• Maitei American: Harps of Paraguay, Various Artists (Best Latin Album)
• Irish Pirate Ballads, Dan Milner (Best World Traditional Album)
• Blodeugerdd Song of the Flowers: An Anthology of Welsh Music and Song, Various Artists (Best World Traditional Album)*
• "La Bamba", Son De Madera (Best Cover Song)
• "Las Poblanas", Son De Madera (Best Latin Song)
• "Ten Thousand Miles Away", Dan Milner (Best World Traditional Song)

In addition, two Smithsonian Folkways projects won design awards. American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 1-5, a box set of Pete Seeger's recordings for Folkways Records, won the Best Album Packaging award and a poster of Lead Belly designed by Matt Kelly from the firm One Lucky Guitar won the Best Band/Venue Poster award.

Smithsonian Folkways would like to echo the call to support the relief efforts in Haiti. Please visit www.haiti.org for a list of ways you can help.

Through Smithsonian Folkways recordings ranging from the 1940s to the 1990s and a 2004 Smithsonian Folklife Festival program, we have learned that despite (and often in response to) the challenges they continue to face, Haitians create powerful artistic expressions in music, painting, crafts, sculpture, and architecture. Haiti is one of the richest nations in terms of its culture and its people. We invite you to listen to a one-hour playlist of Haitian music in the Smithsonian Folkways collection.

Go Waggaloo, the new children's album from Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family, has earned critical acclaim from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Montreal Gazette among dozens of other outlets.

• See Sarah Lee Guthrie and Family on tour with Arlo Guthrie this Spring and a special Valentine's Day benefit concert for Haiti in Pittsfield, MA.
• Save 20% off retail price through January 31 on the limited-edition vinyl version of Go Waggaloo, which includes a coupon for the full-album download, at folkways.si.edu with code GOWAGVINYL.

Read about Roberto Martínez, co-founder of the group Los Reyes del Alburquerque and founder of M.O.R.E. (Minority Owned Record Enterprises), a record label dedicated to preserving the violin-driven Nuevo Mexicano-styled mariachi he and his family championed. We are proud to announce that the M.O.R.E. recordings are now part of the Smithsonian Folkways collection, with three albums available for purchase and more to come.

The Winter edition of the online-only, multi-media Smithsonian Folkways Magazine also includes:

• Artist Spotlight: Tribute to the late Sam Gesser
• From the Field: Uganda
• Archive Spotlight: Ella Jenkins's Workshop

Three concerts in Maryland will celebrate the life and work of Tom Wisner, "The Bard of the Chesapeake", who recorded two albums of original songs for Folkways Records.

The concerts are a CD-release party for "Follow On The Water: A Celebration of the Bay's Life in Story and Song" and will be held at the Calvert Marine Museum on Friday, January 29 (sold out), at the Annapolis Maritime Museum on Saturday, January 30, and at The Avalon Theatre in Easton, MD on Sunday, January 31. Tom, who has battled lung cancer for the past year, has dedicated his life to chronicling the rich traditions of the regional Maryland waterways and will be joined on stage by Frank Schwartz, Teresa Whitaker, Mac Walter, and John Cronin.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #18 - Jazz and subscribe to the podcast here.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #17 - The Letter J and subscribe to the podcast here. Shortly before he died in 1987, Moses Asch was interviewed by the Today Show on NBC. At that time, he justified his policy of never withdrawing a record title from the complete two thousand plus collection by saying: "would you take the letter J out of the dictionary merely because it is used less frequently than the letter S?" This program covers songs, music from countries, artists, instruments and sounds which all begin with the letter J.

Can't decide which album to give as a gift this year? Give a Smithsonian Folkways electronic gift certificate and let your friend or family member decide.

As a reminder, all retail orders of $50 or more at Folkways.si.edu automatically qualify for free standard first-class shipping (U.S. only) through December 16th.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #16 - Work Songs and subscribe to the podcast here. Harold Courlander is an important figure in the history of Folkways as the early guiding spirit for what he and Folkways Records founder Moses Asch called the "Ethnic Series", which is the vast catalogue of what we now call world music. This episode featuresthe album Courlander put together in 1956 that documents the sensibilities he brought to this work in the immediate post-War period.

Congratulations to Los Texmaniacs for their 2009 Grammy nomination for Best Tejano Album for the album Borders y Bailes.

December 2nd, 2009 would have been the 104th birthday of Folkways Records founder Moses Asch, and 2009 marks the 70th anniversary of his first foray into the record business.

Please join us in wishing Moe a happy birthday, and enjoy as our gift a free download of one of Moses Asch's first recordings as well as a free stream of the Worlds of Sound Sampler, a 26-track companion to the book Worlds of Sound: The Story of Smithsonian Folkways. The download and stream will be available through Thursday, December 3rd only!

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #15 - Time and subscribe to the podcast here. This episode mines the Smithsonian Folkways catalogue for songs about clocks and time, at least Western conceptions of time. Starting with a little bluegrass reflection on clocks and then moving onto all sorts of songs with references to time or time keeping, it's a timely program.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #14 - Talking About the Blues and subscribe to the podcast here. The idea comes from the Folkways album "This is the Blues." It features Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee. The album was built around a radio show produced by the great Studs Terkel of Chicago's WFMT and was recorded on May 7th, 1957.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #13 - Sacco and Vanzetti and subscribe to the podcast here. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchists, were executed unjustly in 1927 for armed robbery and murder of two pay-clerks in Massachusetts. The case caused quite a stir at the time as for many the conviction was not for murder, but for being anarchists and immigrants. They were pardoned in 1977 by Governor Michael Dukakis. In 1947, twenty years after the execution, Moses Asch commissioned an album of original songs penned and sung by Woody Guthrie about the trial, an album Woody himself believed was his most important work.

In addition to a free download of the song "'Cuz We're Cousins", you can now stream Go Waggaloo, the new family album from Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family, in its entirety free until November 3rd. The album features original songs, traditional favorites, and three songs written by Sarah Lee's grandfather Woody Guthrie put to music for the first time.

What does Go Waggaloo mean anyway? Visit the Smithsonian Folkways Facebook page to find out!

Worlds of Sound: The Ballad of Folkways is a new one-hour documentary about Moses Asch and the 60-year history of Smithsonian Folkways. Tune your TV to Smithsonian Channel to watch or record for later.

From Smithsonian Channel:
"His name was Moses Asch, and he set out to catalog the sounds of the world. In the process, he changed the way people thought of folk music, and modern life in general. This is the story of his iconoclastic Folkways Records, America's most influential grassroots record label."

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #12 - Days of the Week and subscribe to the podcast here.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #11 - Black and White and subscribe to the podcast here.

Go Waggaloo, the new children's music album from Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family, will be available in stores October 27th, but it is available now at www.folkways.si.edu

• Download the free track: 'Cuz We're Cousins.
• Watch Sarah Lee Guthrie discuss the making of Go Waggaloo.
• Pre-Order Special: Order a CD or digital download package including the Go Waggaloo T-Shirt, featuring original drawings by Woody Guthrie, and save $3 off the retail price.
• First 100 CDs ordered will be autographed.
• Go see Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family on tour with Arlo Guthrie.

The fall issue of Folkways Magazine explores the history and variety of children's music, a profile of The New Lost City Ramblers, a field report from the Dominican Republic, and a profile of the Woody Guthrie Papers.

Email newsletter subscribers automatically receive notification of new editions of Folkways Magazine, the online, multimedia magazine from Smithsonian Folkways. To receive our newsletter, just enter your email address where indicated to "Join Our Email List" on the left-hand side of the page.

Mark your calendar: Worlds of Sound: The Ballad of Folkways, a new one-hour documentary about the unique story of Smithsonian Folkways, will premiere on Smithsonian Channel HD starting Sunday, October 25th, at 11 p.m. with repeat showings every day for a week at various times.

• Watch the trailer
• Where to watch Smithsonian Channel

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #10 - Tony Schwartz and subscribe to the podcast here.

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Listen to Program #9 - Going to the Dogs and subscribe to the podcast here.

"It's no small feat to create a record that will hold the attention of someone who is not used to listening to records. If you do it right, it's a treasure. This is that."
— Arlo Guthrie

On October 27, Smithsonian Folkways will release Go Waggaloo, a 13-track disc of children's music from Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family featuring her husband Johnny Irion, their two daughters, and a host of other family and friends including her father Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Pete's grandson Tao Rodriguez Seeger.

Guthrie presents thoughtful yet playful recordings of traditional songs and new compositions, including three songs featuring lyrics by her grandfather Woody Guthrie from the Smithsonian Folkways archives never before put to music and eight songs written by Sarah Lee and family. This is Sarah Lee Guthrie's first children's recording and her first recording for Smithsonian Folkways, home of 42 albums featuring Woody Guthrie and more than 200 children's recordingsby Pete Seeger, Ella Jenkins, Lead Belly and many others.

Go Waggaloo continues the Guthrie family chain of song-making first forged by Sarah's grandfather, Woody Guthrie (whose drawings are featured on the album cover and booklet). With song notes written by Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, a touching introduction from Arlo Guthrie, and notes from children's music expert Stefan Shepherd, Go Waggaloo bridges generations of music lovers by combining traditional folk music with contemporary lyrics and instrumentation. Listening to Go Waggaloo one can hear a drum machine, songs about Xboxes© and DVDs, and a spur of the moment song recorded on a cell phone by the Guthrie family on a road trip.

A special pre-order for visitors to www.folkways.si.edu will be available in September. Please subscribe to the monthly Smithsonian Folkways email newsletter to receive information about the special pre-order, other Smithsonian Folkways news, free downloads, trivia contests, and other special discounts.