Festival Radio

Music of Colombia from Smithsonian Folkways

Listen to the variety of rhythms representing the regional diversity of Colombia. “Adiós, Berejú” features the marimba-led sound from the Pacific coastal regions, while “Sin Ti” and “Pedazo de Acordeón” are examples of the  accordion-driven vallenatos from the Caribbean coast. Also featured are the early cumbia sounds of Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, whose members are well known for their white shirts, red scarves, and wide-brimmed hats. Grupo Cimarrón provides even more contrast, representing the Orinoco plains region of Colombia and Venezuela by mixing masterful harp playing with nimble maracas and soaring vocals. In recent decades, Colombia has suffered waves of violence, and the lack of economic opportunities has displaced people from rural areas to the cities. But Colombia’s proud musical tradition continues through the efforts of the musicians and organizations dedicated to promoting and preserving these unique sounds. The Smithsonian Folkways collection features eight albums containing Colombian music.

The Sounds of Peace Corps Countries

Since 1961, the Peace Corps has promoted world peace and friendship in 139 countries. The Peace Corps provides American expertise to nations in need, and facilitates intercultural understanding between the United States and Peace Corps host countries. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival hosts performances, discussions and demonstrations by fifteen Peace Corps nations on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The groups and individual musicians featured on this playlist, while not scheduled to appear at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, are from Smithsonian Folkways, the non-profit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, and represent the rich diversity of musical expression of the Festival participants. The selections here range from the unmistakable sound of the sitengena, or thumb piano, as played by a ¡Kung San musician from the northwestern Kalahari Desert in Botswana; to the distinctive tuning of ancient choral polyphony from the mountains of Georgia; to Kyrgyz music evocative of the hoof-beats of horses across the grasslands of Central Asia; to a classic protest song from American singer and activist Bernice Johnson Reagon; to a traditional Bambara jaliya song played by Malian musicians resident in New York City. The amazing range of musical sounds featured here also includes Kenyan afropop from Seattle, Guatemalan marimba, rural Jamaican calypso, and much more.

Rhythm & Blues from Smithsonian Folkways

In the mid-60s, Michael Asch, son of Folkways Records founder Moses Asch, received audition tapes from Lynn Productions of New Orleans that featured a compilation of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and doo-wop tracks. The recording sessions were led by Al White and the Hi-Liters, a prominent doo-wop group from the South who enlisted local bands and artists to showcase their sound for the records. What resulted were two records released by Folkways: Roots: Rhythm and Blues and Roots: The Rock and Roll Sound of Louisiana and Mississippi. While the names of the albums may assume the racial distinction between the two “genres,” the recording sessions featured both black and white musicians playing together on tracks of both genres.

This playlist features takes from these albums, as well as other notable R&B tracks from the Smithsonian Folkways collection.

Boogie Woogie Piano from Smithsonian Folkways

Coming from early blues traditions though featured prominently in honky-tonks, juke joints, and barrelhouses, the boogie groove is at the heart of the American R&B and rock and roll traditions. The combination of the driving rhythm from the left hand and the stylized and syncopated bluesy improvisations from the right create a dynamic style which is percussive in force. Adapted for guitar, bass, horns, and other instruments, the boogie-woogie sound has become one of the most distinct idioms in the American blues repertoire.

This playlist of tracks is compiled from the Smithsonian Folkways collection.

The Roots of Rhythm & Blues from Smithsonian Folkways

The songs, spirituals, spoken word, and poetics presented in this playlist reflect the mosaic of voices, styles, genres, and cultural influences that have contributed to the popular post-war urban music explosion known as rhythm and blues (R&B). Historically R&B can be traced to the northward migration of southern populations and the movement of rural people to the city around the late 1920s; the unique musical traditions they brought with them merge at a crucial juncture of civil unrest, increasing secularization, and the development of electric instrumentation. Boogie piano music, with its driving rhythm, is energetic and youthful, while the character of lyrical styles derived from field and work songs is secular and playful. Gospel choirs serve a social function by creating community and teaching songs to youth attending church, while protest songs elicit the same sense of liberation and redemption found in sacred settings. The development of spoken word with jazz speaks to the urban experience and the progressive nature of the music.

The growth and evolution of R&B—especially contemporary R&B—has been popular and commercial in nature; nevertheless, the process by which these musical forms have been disseminated and recontextualized by new generations of musicians and audiences represents an essential element of folk expression.

This playlist of tracks is compiled from the Smithsonian Folkways collection.