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Smithsonian Folkways Mission
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Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others. Our mission is the legacy of HYPERLINK "http://folklife.si.edu/center/legacy/asch.aspx"/t "_blank" who founded Folkways Records in 1948 to document "people's music," spoken word, instruction, and sounds from around the world. The Smithsonian acquired Folkways from the Asch estate in 1987, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has continued the Folkways commitment to cultural diversity, education, increased understanding, and lively engagement with the world of sound.
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Smithsonian Folkways History
Folkways Records & Service Co. was incorporated in 1948 in New York City by Moses Asch (1905-1986) and Marian Distler (1919-1964). Under Asch's enthusiastic and dedicated direction, Folkways sought to record and document the entire world of sound. Between 1948 and Asch's death, Folkways' tiny staff released 2,168 albums. Topics included traditional, ethnic, and contemporary music from around the world; poetry, spoken word, and instructional recordings in numerous languages; and documentary recordings of individuals, communities, current events, and natural sounds.
As one of the first record companies to offer albums of "world music," and as an early exponent of the singers and songwriters who formed the core of the American folk music revival (including such giants as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly), Asch's Folkways grew to become one of the most influential record companies in the world.
Following Asch's death, in 1987 the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington D.C. acquired Folkways Recordings and the label's business papers and files to ensure that the sounds and genius of its artists would continue to be available to future generations.
As a condition of the acquisition, the Smithsonian agreed that virtually all of the firm's 2,168 titles would remain "in print" forever a condition that Smithsonian Folkways continues to honor through its custom order service. Whether it sells 8,000 copies each year or only one copy every five years, every Folkways title remains available for purchase.
In the years since 1987, Smithsonian Folkways has continued to expand on Asch's legacy, adding several other record labels to the collections and releasing over 300 new recordings that document and celebrate the sounds of the world around us.
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CD The Real Calypso/Various Artists |
Review: This compilation is an introduction to the golden age of calypso and to some of its greatest exponents. The genre is known for its incisive social commentary, and the songs on this album retain the spirit and irreverence of calypso at home in Trinidad and Tobago. |
Release Year: 1966 |
Catalog Number: RBF013 |
Credits: Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Real Calypso, Vol. 2:/Various Artists |
Review: According to the original liner notes, this selection of 1930s Trinidadian calypso is "colorful and exuberant and richly expressive and often hilariously funny." From tales of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie to dancer Bojangles Robinson's "million dollar feet," these songs offer social commentary through calypso's inimitable raffish rhymes. |
Release Year: 1981 |
Catalog Number: RE04 |
Credits: Cover photo by Samuel Charters |
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CD Folk Music of the Western Congo/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1952 |
Catalog Number: FW04427 |
Credits: Produced by Harold Courlander; Produced by Leo A. Verwilghen; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Bantu High Life/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1967 |
Catalog Number: FW08857 |
Credits: Artist Moshe Sephula; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Traditional Drumming and Dances of Ghana/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1976 |
Catalog Number: FW08858 |
Credits: Recorded by John Tanson; Cover photo by John Tanson; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Music of the Ashanti of Ghana/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1979 |
Catalog Number: FW04240 |
Credits: Recorded by David Moises Perez Martinez; Recorded by Verna Gillis; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Traditional Women's Music from Ghana: Ewe, Fanti, Ashanti, and Dagomba/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1981 |
Catalog Number: FW04257 |
Credits: Recorded by Verna Gillis ; Produced by Verna Gillis ; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Drums of the Yoruba of Nigeria/Various Artists |
Review: This collection of Nigerian drum music demonstrates the rich textures of the three-legged sacred Igbin drums which one plays with hands and sticks, the Dundun or pressure drum which plays not only rhythm but melody, and the two-toned Bata drums which are unique to the Yoruba people. |
Release Year: 1953 |
Catalog Number: FW04441 |
Credits: ecorded by William Russell Bascom ; Produced by William Russell Bascom ; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Africa South of the Sahara/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1957 |
Catalog Number: FW04503 |
Credits: Produced by Harold Courlander; Produced by Alan P. Merriam; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Yoruba Bata Drums: Elewe Music and Dance/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1980 |
Catalog Number: FW04294 |
Credits: Recorded by G. Odukwe Sackeyfio; Produced by G. Odukwe Sackeyfio; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Negro Folk Music of Africa and America/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1951 |
Catalog Number: FW04500 |
Credits: Produced by Harold Courlander; Produced by Dick Waterman; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD African Music/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1957 |
Catalog Number: FW08852 |
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CD Alhaji Garbo Leao and His Goge Music/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1976 |
Catalog Number: FW08860 |
Credits: Artist Alhaji Garba Leo; Recorded by Randall F. Grass; Design by Ronald Clyne |
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CD Music Of Cuba /Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1985 |
Catalog Number: FE04064 |
Credits: Produced by John Santos; Recorded by Verna Gillis; Produced by Verna Gillis; Cover photo by Brad Graves; Cover artwork by Juan Raymat |
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CD Carnaval in Cuba/Various Artists |
Review: |
Release Year: 1981 |
Catalog Number: FE04065 |
Credits: Produced by Andrew Schloss; Recorded by Andrew Schloss; Design by Ronald Clyne; Cover photo by Andrew Schloss |
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CD Che Guevara Speaks/Che Guevara |
Review: 'Revolutionaries are not normal people': an understatement in relation to Ernesto Che Guevara. Physician, brilliant intellect, competent soldier, charismatic leader, developed-and eventually creative-Marxist economist, always a man able to capture the spirit of an experience in his own being, Che remains one of the four or five greatest revolutionaries in modern history… |
Release Year: 1973 |
Catalog Number: P01017 |
Credits: Produced by Barbara Dane; Artist Ernesto Guevara; Design by Ronald Clyne; Cover photo by Arbolito |
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CD The Historic Second Declaration Of Havana: Feb. 4, 1962/Fidel Castro |
Review: "When this document was delivered to the world by Fidel Castro and the people of revolutionary Cuba, it was February 4, 1962, ‘Year of Planning." Cuba, through the manipulations of the United States, had just been expelled from the Organization of American States at the Punta del Este Conference. This confrontation had underscored three major crises which had been coming to a head on three separate fronts..."
"Cuando este documento fue entregado al mundo por Fidel Castro y el pueblo de la Cuba revolucionaria, era el 4 de febrero de 1962, el ‘Año de la Planeación." Cuba, a través de las manipulaciones de Estados Unidos, había acabado de ser expulsada de la Organización de Estados Americanos en la Conferencia de Punta del Este. Esta confrontación dejó al descubierto tres grandes controversias que han venido gestándose en tres diferentes frentes..." |
Release Year: 1973 |
Catalog Number: P01013 |
Credits: Artist Fidel Castro; Design by Ronald Clyne ; Cover photo by Plaza de la revolucion |
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CD Anthems of All Nations, Vol. 1 & 2/Various Artists |
Review: These aren't really all of the national anthems out there, but you do get to hear a sampling, from Belgium to Turkey, Mexico to Japan. Liner notes provide background and lyrics. |
Release Year: 1956 |
Catalog Number: FS03881 |
Credits: Produced by Michael J. Schwartzman |
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