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OK, we know bluegrass compilations aren't exactly a rarity these days, but this set from Folkways is about as good of one these things as we've seen – and it's from Folkways after all, not some creepy sub-major label exploitation set! In the late 50s Folkways was pretty much the main reservoir for true bluegrass LPs, and this set mines the best of the catalog from the time. The necessary great ones and the label heroes are represented, of course – Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, the Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson – but like the best similar comps, there are also tons of fine tunes that tend to get lost without a broad cultural trend to stir them up out of the ground. Not just for archivists by any stretch – if a title like Classic Bluegrass From Smithsonian Folkways sounds interesting to your ears you'll love this thing! 25 tracks, including "Little Birdie" and "Rabbit In A Log" by the Stanley Brothers, "Get Up John" by Bill Monroe, "(Legend Of The) Brown Mountain Light" by The Country Gentlemen, "The Train That Carried My Girl From Town" by Doc Watson, ""Wayfaring Stranger" by Cullen Gaylean And The Virginia Mountain Boys", "Teardrops In My Eyes" by The Friendly City Playboys, and tons more. CD

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A really unique document of the struggle and story of Angela Davis – recorded in 1971 by ABC news, and packaged together here as kind of a sonic program by Folkways! The record works like a short news program – starting out with a statement by Angela, then moving to a narrated introduction, then a long interview conducted by Joe Walker of Muhammad Speaks. Side two continues with a panel discussion on the case, then ends with some very cool "man in the street" style interviews! Capped off with a really great cover photo of Angela too! CD

An incredible album, and very unique! Sarah Webster Fabio was a hip 70s poet with a very righteous sound – and she's working here with funky backings by a tight group that includes family members, in a style that's similar to early 70s work by artists like Wanda Robinson and Camille Yarborough – both of whom also mixed together funk and poetry! The album's got a massive funky cut called "Sweet Songs" – the kind of groover we never tire of, with tight drums, great guitar, and wonderful vocals by Sarah herself. There's lots of other great tunes too – with titles that include "Juju For Grandma", "Still A Red Hot Axe", "Chromo", "If We Come As Soft Rain", and "Jujus/Alchemy Of The Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful set from Ella Jenkins at the dawn of the 70s – and a little bit of a step away from the children's music she was (and still is) so loved for – with stirring takes on gospel, folk and blues tunes for grown ups and kids alike...everybody with a soul! It's a nice look at a near century of great songs, much of it rising high on just the voices and acoustic guitar. She's joined by Brother John Sellers and Joseph Brewer on some songs – and titles include "The Wilderness", "I'm Gonna Tell God My Troubles", " Heaven", "Jimbo", "Another Man Done Gone", "Soft Pedal Blues", "An Old Lady And Her Horse", "Freedom's Coming Mighty Soon", "A Long Time" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark for folk singer Ella Jenkins, children's music as a genre and the Folkways label! Ella is singing out front of the Urban Gateways Children's Chorus here, gently leading the kids while lifting them to the level of full on collaborators. In some ways, this sets the template for so much of the best children's music to come, especially in the folk style, but in the heart of the civil rights era with such a sweetly inclusive set of songs – from soulful spirituals to sweet novelty sing-a-longs – it's really vital work. Includes "You'll Sing A Song & I'll Sing A Song", "Cadima", "May-Ree Mack", "Did You Feed My Cow?", "Shabbat Shalom", "I Saw", "Sifting In The Sand", "Guide Me" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

James P Johnson plays "Sweet Lorraine", "Aunt Hagar's Blues", "The Dream", "Keep Movin", "St. Louis Blues", "Euphonic Sounds", "Blue Moods, Sex", and "Blues For Jimmy". CD

Titles include "The Deacons", "Harriet Tubman", "Sojourner Truth", "Benjamin Banneker", and "Leroy Satchel Paige". LP, Vinyl record album

Kenneth Patchen, like Kenneth Rexroth, was one of the few poets who really understood what it meant to read and write in a jazz idiom – as you'll hear on this excellent set of beatnik jazz tracks! The album features Patchen reading in a great style – angular, cynical, really working the words of his poems perfectly over backings by the Alan Neil Quartet. The poems are set to music written by George Wallington, Charlie Parker, and others – and tracks include "There's A Place", "They Won't Let You In There", "Do I Not Deal With Angels", "Not Many Kingdoms Left", "The Lonesome Boy Blues", "As I Opened The Window", and "A Sight Is Little Altered". CD

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Very cool – with outside and inside passages that go on a lot longer than just short snippets – some as long as 5 minutes, and more sonic poems to the city! Includes street traffic, a cocktail party, and even a luncheonette counter! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

The second Folkways album from trumpeter Charles Shaw – and even more wonderful than the first! This one changes up the groove a bit – still sticking in Shaw's spiritual jazz vein at times, but also tripping things out a bit more with use of electric guitar and the ultra-cool "bag flute" – which is almost like a wah-wah sort of reed instrument, and which makes for some really funky moments! The electric touches are totally great – and mix with rougher acoustic jazz elements in ways that remind us of earlier 70s work from Luther Thomas and Joe McPhee – also both avant players who could show a funky side like this at times. Shaw plays trumpet, flugelhorn, and the bag flute – and other instrumentation includes guitar from James Greggo and Tom Lee Harris, alto from Brian Ross, tenor from Glenn Spears, bass from Ronnie Boykins, and drums from Art Blakey Jr. Titles include "Kid Zorro", "Postage Paid", "Mr Zip", "Chain Reaction", and "Melted Soul". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album by Mary Lou Williams – a set recorded during the 70s period when she was mixing in a bit of funk with her jazz! The sound here is wonderful – quite different than other work you might know from Williams, and much more in the sort of groove you'd expect from Junior Mance, Ray Bryant, Ramsey Lewis, or other soul jazz-oriented pianists! Williams plays acoustic piano in a very hip trio with Mickey Roker on drums and Bob Cranshaw on electric bass – the latter of whom brings in this well-rounded, soul-drenched tone that's a lot like the bass work on some of Monty Alexander's own best albums from the 70s. And Williams herself is totally great too – playing with some slightly exotic tones at points, and with a really in-the-pocket groove at others. Funky tracks include "Intermission" and "Rosa Mae" – and other titles include "Ghost Of Love", "Medi II", "Zoning Fungus", and a great version of Dizzy Gillespie's "Olinga". CD also features 2 previously unreleased tracks – "Syl-O-Gism" and an alternate of "Gloria". CD

40s field recordings in pre-Castro Cuba – a series of tracks recorded in Havana and more rural locations, all of which document the surviving African traditions in Cuban music! Much of the work here is relatively spare and percussive – done with instrumentation that includes gourd scrapers, calabash rattles, friction drums, and bells – topped by vocals that often have a rhythmically chanting feel. Styles document the Lucumi, Arara, Abakwa, and Kimbisa cultures – and titles include "Lucumi Song", "Song To Orisha Oko", "Djuka Drums", "Song To Chongo", and "Song To Obatala". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A record that sounds as ancient as the appearance of its cover – and even though the set was originally released in 1980, it feels more like a Folkways Records release of Appalachian music from the postwar years! Virgil Anderson plays banjo and sings in this fantastic voice – with a style that's not unlike the famous recordings of Roscoe Holcomb, although Anderson also plays a bit of guitar at points. Production is nice and lean, and titles include "Muskrat", "Bed Bug Blues", "You Been Gone So Long", "Wild Bill Jones", "Miner's Dream", "Wild Goose Chase", and "Jenny Hang The Kettle On". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible early recordings by The Fugs – a set that captures the group at a time when they still had tremendous power and potential! The sessions were originally done for Folkways, then later sold to ESP – and the spare, earthy Folkways approach is perfect for the group, capturing them in a setting that's more of a happening than an actual recording session – a freewheeling hippie-esque party that's perfect for the protest and politics of the songs. Instrumentation includes a lot of hand-held percussion – maracas, tambourine, etc – and the Holy Modal Rounders join the group on some songs as well. Titles include "Saran Wrap", "We're The Fugs", "Caca Rocka", "My Bed Is Getting Crowded", "New Amphetamine Shriek", and "CIA Man". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the more obscure folk duos of the 60s – working here with a bit of guitar and electric harpsichord from a young Al Kooper – plus other inventive arrangements with fuzz bass, vibes, and Hammond! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic little package – one that presents a key look at the farther reaches of Mississippi in the 60s, 70s, and 80s – served up in rare photographs, essays, readings, films, and a great batch of music all collected by William Ferris! Starting in the mid 60s, Ferris sought to document the disappearing scene around him – and emerged as almost a one-man version of Smithsonian/Folkways – as you'll discover in this fantastic box, which includes 1 DVD of film footage, plus a CD of rare blues, another CD of gospel, and a third CD featuring interviews and stories from Alex Haley, Barry Hannah, Bobby Rush, Shelby "Poppa Jazz" Brown, James "Son Ford" Thomas, BB King, Ray Lum, Pecolia Warner, and others! As usual with Dust-To-Digital, the whole package is beautiful – and includes a fabric-covered box with a heavy, hardcover book that features rare photos by Ferris, plus writings by Scott Barretta, David Evans, and Tom Rankin. Music is by James "Son Ford" Thomas, Lovey Williams, Scott Dunbar, Tom Dumas, Lovey Williams, Sam Myers, Sonny Boy Watson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, James Hughes, Rose Hill Church, Walter Lee Hood, Fannie Bell Chapman, The Southland Hummingbirds, and many more! CD

The legendary first album by The Fugs – a set that was first issued on Folkways Records, then later on ESP – and which is maybe a perfect bridge between these different underground worlds in the 60s! Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, Peter Stampfel, and the others are clearly budding hippies – but there's also a quality here that's different than the scene a few years later – maybe pulled equally from the late beat world, and the underground film world – no surprise, as Harry Smith produced the record for the group, and really has a great ear for their rootsier elements on acoustic instruments. The whole thing was recorded in two afternoon sessions in 1965, and still remains a record with surprising power after all these years – on titles that include "Slum Goddess", "Swinburn Stomp", "Supergirl", "Boobs A Lot", "My Baby Done Left Me", and "I Couldn't Get High". CD adds in 11 more bonus tracks - additional material from the original sessions – plus material recorded at the Night Of Napalm at St Marks place in 1965! CD

Amazing lost work from Warren "Baby" Dodds (and others) – a pioneering jazz drummer born and bred in New Orleans before moving to Chicago and influencing countless trap clappers! Talking And Drum Solos was originally released as a 10-inch on Folkways, and as the title suggests it's a loose batch of sometimes spare, sometimes rolling crack drum solos by Baby mixed with some tight Big Easy brass jazz and easy going monologues by the drummer. The album is credited as being one of the first full albums dedicated to drum solos, but it's appeal stretches far beyond the concept. Tracks include "Spooky Drums No. 1", "Drums In The Twenties", "Careless Love Blues", "Rudiments" and more. The second half is the real treasure, though – 20 short deep south flavored brass jazz tunes by the Laneville-Union Brass & Lapsey Band, originally released as an LP in the Folkways "Music From The South" series. This isn't the cliched N'awl-ins brass band jazz the band monikers probably bring to mind – the mood throughout is solidly rooted in very spare, very loose marches. It's laid down with the instrumentation of New Orleans brass bands, but the dark, rural feel puts this much more in line with what you'd hear in Harry Smith's archives than silly brass band compilations. Really spooky stuff – and a wonderful sample of the sounds of a very specific aspect of the American south in the middle of the previous century. Tracks include "Precious Lord Hold My Hand", "Take Rocks And Gravel To Build A Solid Road", "Sing On", "I Shall Not Be Moved", "When I Lay My Burden Down" and lots more. Great notes by the fine Chicago jazz writer Kevin Whitehead, too! CD

One of the few straight rock records ever issued on the mostly-folk Monitor Records label – a great 60s outing from Freeborne, a group with a sound that's as tripped-out as you might expect from the cover! Instrumentation is heavy on organ and guitars, both acoustic and electric, but there's also some cool percussion too – and interesting use of recorders, in a way that comes across with an ocarina-like charm! Vocals are somewhat soft, but have a dark undercurrent – and there's a really great folk-into-psyche sort of feel to the whole thing. Titles include "Images", "Land Of Diana", "But I Must Return To Frenzy", "Inside People", "Yellow Sky", "Peak Impressions & Thoughts", and "Visions Of My Own". CD

The legendary first album by The Fugs – a set that was first issued on Folkways Records, then later on ESP – and which is maybe a perfect bridge between these different underground worlds in the 60s! Ed Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, Peter Stampfel, and the others are clearly budding hippies – but there's also a quality here that's different than the scene a few years later – maybe pulled equally from the late beat world, and the underground film world – no surprise, as Harry Smith produced the record for the group, and really has a great ear for their rootsier elements on acoustic instruments. The whole thing was recorded in two afternoon sessions in 1965, and still remains a record with surprising power after all these years – on titles that include "Slum Goddess", "Swinburn Stomp", "Supergirl", "Boobs A Lot", "My Baby Done Left Me", and "I Couldn't Get High". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album – and one of the best records you'll ever find by Mary Lou Williams! The record's a mixture of jazz and spiritual themes, and it features Mary Lou's piano set in some super-hip jazz arrangements that include players like Grant Green, Budd Johnson, Larry Gales, Melba Liston, Ben Tucker, and Percy Heath. The bass and piano work is amazing, and many tracks have a dark groove that's very subtle, but very compelling. About half the tunes feature hip choral vocalizing – in the mode of some of the Donald Byrd or Max Roach albums from the same time – mostly handled by the group of Howard Roberts. Includes the classic groover "A Grand Nite For Swinging", plus "A Fungus Amongus", "Anima Christi", "Miss DD", "The Devil", "It Ain't Necessarily So", and "My Blue Heaven". Great stuff all around – and even better than we're describing it! This CD issue features the original Mary Records cover art – different than the Saba/MPS or later Smithsonian CD versions. CD

A great Folkways style collection in the same vein as Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music, but instead filled with sounds from rural Mexico! The collection is organized by region and features original and often quite intimate field recordings by artists that include Conjunto De Juan Reynoso, Conjunto Poker De Ases, Conjunto Los Tremendos Michoacanos , Conjunto De Bardomiano Flores, Conjunto Los Tecuchis, and more – 60 tracks total, plus detailed notes in English and Spanish! CD

The full story of one of the most important indie labels in the world of folk, roots, and acoustic music – an imprint who are maybe only second to Folkways Records fo the way they've not only preserved the past, but helped foster a new future as well! Rounder Records was begun as a labor of love in the Boston scene after the more popular folk boom of the 60s – and as the dust settled from the years of Kingston Trio and The Brothers Four, Rounder helped find a way forward for the more interesting, more important acoustic artists – while also opening the door to new sounds and styles along the way – a huge legacy that ended up including superstars as well as very obscure musicians and singers. The book has a great narrative drive, and really gets at the kind of enthusiasm that started the label and kept it going and growing for decades – tracing both its influence on other musical scenes, and the way that artists continued to help Rounder from ever falling into cliche. Hardcover edition is 196 pages, with some black and white images. Book

A fantastic document of the first-ever Ann Arbor Blues Festival – the start of a great event that would blossom into other styles of music in the 70s, but which stood as a strong blues-based event in its initial year of 1969! In some ways, the three day series of concerts is a roots answer to Woodstock – which took place just a few weeks before – as the festival featured a great scope of blues talents, from the rootsier sort of artists who were recording for labels like Folkways or Arhoolie, to some of the sharper modern talents rising to the top on Chess or Delmark! The package alone is almost worth the price of admission – beautiful photographs of the event, detailed notes, and the first-ever release of this music – which has sat in the vaults for decades, finally to see the light of day. Titles include "Dirty Mother For You" by Roosevelt Sykes, "So Glad You're Mine" by Arthur Big Boy Crudup, "Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy" by Luther Allison & The Blue Nebulae, "Help Me" by Junior Wells, "I Wonder Why" by Jimmy Dawkins, "Too Much Alcohol" by JB Hutto & His Hawks, "So Many Roads So Many Trains" by Otis Rush, "Long Distance Call" by Muddy Waters, "Off The Wall" by James Cotton Band, "Juanita" by Big Joe Williams, "Jelly Jelly Blues" by Shirley Griffin, "I Feel So Good" by Magic Sam, "Call It Stormy Monday" by T-Bone Walker, "Death Letter Blues" by Son House, "Key To The Highway" by Sam Lay, and "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin Hopkins. CD