Jamboree!

Jamboree was kind of a mixed event in terms of success. I thought that manning the booth was fairly unrewarding as everything there was for the other class, but I felt that swing dancing went slightly better than I thought it would.

To be real honest, I didn't expect too many people to show up to the dancing. I knew there was going to be a lot of other stuff going on, and dancing can be awkward. Surprisingly enough, a few people showed up and appeared as though they had a fun time. It was also true, however, that we didn't know enough dance steps to keep it interesting for any length of time.

The climax of the event was the bands performance, not just because I was involved with it, but because I think people reacted better to live music, plus we had our highest attendance at that same time.

All in all, it wasn't too bad.

Gospel Part 2 (Technical Problems...)

First of all, I really couldn't get the second Gospel Playlist to work. I could get a song playing, and then it would be fine, but somewhere in the middle of it (or doing the transition to the next song), a second song would start playing. It would also take several minutes to get the next song playing, if it would even start playing.

That aside, I really enjoyed "Yonder Come Day" by New Year Shout. I think I got that title right, but I'm not one-hundred percent sure. The songs that I was able to listen to had what I would consider a more "religious" sound--lyrics that dealt directly with the church and other aspects of religion. This also could have been just because the songs were more modern, but I think that this playlist seemed more religiously tied than the previous.

"Sit Down Servant" by the Staple Singers was an example of this more modern sound, and was also the only group from the playlist (that I can remember at least) that I had heard of before. If I'm not mistaken, they were a 70's soul group, which seems to be different than the other artists on the playlist......

Gospel Part 1

For some odd reason, I had some sort of interest in religious music before I listened to the first of two iTunes playlists. I'm not at all religious, and often make fun of Christian Rock, but have had some interest in the genre for awhile now, and I'm not sure why.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the hour long set of music. Although many apt comparisons could be made to the earlier playlists/Pandora sets/podcasts, the layered vocals, themes and subtle differences made these songs more exciting than earlier installments. The principle sound (and sound quality) definitely still existed, with vocals maxing out and records crackling in the background, but that really should not become the focus of this music.

Sound quality aside, I enjoyed Lyle Lovette's "Church" more than any other song, and not simply for the fact that it was definitely more modern than the other songs on the list. The layered vocals seemed more harmonic (which I suppose could be tied to recording quality), but just being able to listen to enunciated lyrics definitely had its appeal. I guess I really don't see how this song fits into the Roots Music theme, unless this is an accurate modern version of elements of roots music from the actual "roots years."

I found the sermon-based recordings interesting as well, and they brought up several questions. For the first time while listening to assigned songs, the recordings were used for non-musical reasons. Were the sermons recorded at a later time period when recording was cheaper? Was church money used to fund these endeavors? Were these, as they were mostly not musical, seen as frivolous at the time, or merely as a reflection of society? I personally don't know, but assume that the last was true, that they were a reflection of what the "mainstream" wanted, as Jazz and Blues were seen as dangerous outsider genres with ties to alcohol and a rough lifestyle.

In addition I also enjoyed:

Sister Mary Nelson's "Judgement"
Bascom Lamar Lunsford's "Dry Bones"
and
Reverend Benny Campbell's "You Must be Born Again"

-Brady

FYS Discussion Blog 10/31

Well, first of all there hasn't been too much in class discussion, so I guess I'll throw in a few things about some of the peformances, and reminisce about the days where we did some discussion.

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the performances, I would really rather read and discuss books like "In the Country of Country" and "Deep Blues." It seems to me like the performances have kind of been hit or miss; either somebody has a background in guitar/bass or music in general, or they don't and its more of an abstract presentation complimented with a Powerpoint.

In terms of the actual discussions, I really enjoy the Q+A sessions after the performances, as well as some of the ideas that stem from the performances, including the idea to teach/do swing dance as a Jamboree final project. I guess in that sense (sparking new ideas) the performances have been successful, but I would really rather read about/listen to music and discuss it the way we did the first few weeks or so of class.

I guess I can't really complain about the discussions that we have had, it just seems that they're a little few and far between.

-Brady

The Folkways Collection, Episode 5

Beyond a small exception (one section of this episode), I felt that episodes 4 and 5 were in a lot of ways presenting the same ideas. While the anthology may have (and was) been a very significant collection of music done by a very unique and interesting person in Harry Smith, it was kind of this same concept over and over again for two hours.

One passage in particular that I really liked was the interview with the member of the Grateful Dead (not the later part about Garcia) as he explained the impact that Smith's Anthology had on his own music. "This is where we all started," he recalled. "Then we went beyond that music," he said, giving a very real connection between the anthology (where the musicians and genres seem far away) and music as "we" know it.

Another fact that I found interesting was Smith's undying commitment to bring the music to the masses, especially the fact that the anthology was put together without permission, technically making the first edition a bootleg........

The Folkways Collection, Episode 4

Episode 4 seemed to be very different from Episode 3. It's not that it wasn't interesting, but it seemed a little bit formulaic and tired. The show played part of a song from Harry Smith's "Anthology of American Folk Music," then dissected it. I really liked the music that they played, especially the Canon Jugstompers "Minglewood Blues."

Beyond that, I think that the sheer influence that the anthology had on future folk musicians is incredible. When Smith explained the work at the 1991 Grammy's, he seemed to realize the affect that his collection had on musicians. This became even more evident when coupled with Eagan's (a current musician and student of the genre) reccomendation of the anthology.

In conclusion, I hope that the 5th (and later) installments of "The Folkways Collection" are more like the third than the fourth, but I really couldn't complain with the quality of music presented in this episode.

The Folkways Collection, Episode 3

I really liked this installment of the Folkways Collection. Though I've only listened to the third and fourth installments thusfar, I liked a lot of aspects, particularily Moses Asche's sense of history and preservation.

In stark contrast with almost all record executives today (including the ones I've had the chance to meet), Asche seemed to really actually just be about the music and not the money. When he described how he always wanted to keep records in print whether they "sold five copies or five hundred," that speaks greatly of his character and dedication.

He also seemed to have a very strong sense of maintaining the music as a means of writing history. He always wanted to keep everything around to provide what he described as an "encyclopedia" of sorts, keeping every letter in line and available.

All in all this episode showed a side of the music industry that is fairly lacking today, which is how this episode ties into the class; roots music as a whole was a different ball game than modern music (a relative term). Not only were musicians employees of the record company, they were also family who were looked out for by the company (the show described how a friend/relative of Asche always made sure several of his musicians had enough to eat).