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American Thursday
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The American Embassy is pleased to announce that our next American Thursday program will be held on March 10 at 6:00 P.M in Ethnographic Museum (Kredytowa 1). The presentation: “The Land Where Blues Began” will be run by Donald G. Fleming and Michael E. Taft from the Alan Lomax Archive in New York City and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
A self-described "song-hunter," folklorist Alan Lomax traveled the Mississippi Delta from the 1930s through the 1970’s, armed with recording equipment and a keen love of the Delta's musical heritage. Crisscrossing the towns and hamlets where the blues began, Lomax gave voice to such greats as Lead Belly, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Muddy Waters.
This presentation will give an overview of the work of Alan Lomax, with a focus on the African-American field recordings that he made, particularly the blues music and stories of pre-civil rights America. Using audio, video and photos to illustrate, this musical journey will include the earliest recordings done with his father, John A. Lomax, in the 1930’s, the groundbreaking oral history done with Jelly Roll Morton in 1938, the prison recordings of the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s, the incendiary session in 1947 with Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Slim, and Sonny Boy Williamson in which Lomax encouraged them to speak frankly and perform songs about the inequities of black life in America at that time, the Southern Journey Fieldtrip of 1959-60, and the fieldtrips to the south in the 1970's which were filmed for the PBS series American Patchwork.
The presentation celebrates the cultural contribution of African Americans through this universal art form. On a broader scale it is a fascinating history of the work of Alan Lomax and the impact on popular culture of the African-American music that he recorded and promoted. The program is designed to appeal to young people and music lovers by showing the influence on popular music, including the significance of Lead Belly recordings on the early British rock music scene, the use of Alan’s field recording by Moby for his hugely successful Play CD, and Lomax field recordings used in popular films such as “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, “Gangs of New York,” and “The Aviator.”
The program will run for approximately one hour, including a question and
answer period.
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