Just a reminder that the American Folklife Center is hiring! We have a job for a folklife reference librarian, and two archivist positions for work on our Community Collections Grant materials. Find out all about the positions and apply at the link!
Click here for more information.
|
The American Folklife Center invites you to a reception, screening, and panel discussion around "Language is Life," a new film from the PBS Series "Native America."
Â
Thursday, November 9, 2023
6:00 pm - 8:40 pm EST
Thomas Jefferson Building - Members Room (LJ162)
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Registration is required. Follow the link for more info and a link to registration.
From Hollywood films on the big screen to sacred writing deep within the Earth, from long-lost voices captured in wax cylinders, Native people are fighting to keep their languages and ways of life alive. Though many of the approximately 170 Native languages spoken across the United States remain at risk today, it is a time of hope. A revolutionary effort to revitalize traditional languages is unfolding across Native America; and Native innovators are applying 21st-century technologies to save a core element of their culture and inspire future generations. “Language Is Life” highlights how Native heroes are using every tool to recover, revitalize and restore their linguistic traditions. This episode from the PBS series explores the use of a laser-assisted needle to recover Passamaquoddy songs recorded over a century ago and housed at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. It shows a team creating digital scans of Cherokee writing hidden under graffiti in a Georgia cave. In addition, Manny Wheeler (Navajo) shares his mission to dub Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars into Navajo. Their successes are changing Native America and the world at large.
Part of the PBS series Native America Season 2.
Presented with the support of PBS, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Providence Pictures
Click here for more information and a link to registration.
At the link, find a guest blog post by Professor Sarah Fouts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, on this year's AFC Homegrown Foodways Film Series: Baltimore and New Orleans, which features two films premiering on the Folklife Today blog: "El Camino del Pan a Baltimore" on Tuesday November 7th at noon ET; and "El Camino del Mole a New Orleans" on Tuesday November 14th at noon ET. Then come on back to the blog for the films!
Click here for more information.
Join us for the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award Public Ceremony
Friday, September 29, 2023 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm EDT
Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium (LJG45A)
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC
Come join us as we honor the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows and acknowledge the 2020-2022 honorees in a live ceremony in Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress, September 29, 2023, 5:30 pm-6:45 pm. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships is the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts. Each year since 1982, the program recognizes recipients' artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage. The ceremony is free and open to the public to attend in person, and will also be livestreamed on the Library's YouTube channel.
Click here for more information including the livestream link.
Join us for the American Folklife Center's latest Botkin video lecture, starting September 25 at noon. "Teaching Culture, Teaching Culturally: The Significance of Folklife Education in the Schools" by Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje.
Note:Â The video won't appear until about noon on September 25, at which point it will be at the link! If you visit the link before that, you can check out our blog...and subscribe!
Folklorists Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje present an overview of folklore in K-12 education in the U.S. They discuss their work with the influential non-profit organization Local Learning: The National Network for Folk Arts in Education, their visions, and the diverse and dynamic ways that folklorists and traditional artists are currently engaged in K-12, museum, and community education. For 30 years, Local Learning has trained American educators in folkloristics, created opportunities in education for traditional artists, created resources that bridge folklore and education, and developed important partnerships, including an ongoing relationship with Teaching with Primary Sources here at the Library of Congress.
Paddy Bowman is a prominent folklorist, author, educator and Local Learning’s Founding Director; Lisa Rathje is Executive Director of Local Learning and co-edits the peer-reviewed, multimedia Journal of Folklore and Education.
Click here for the premiere!
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Alejandro Brittes Quartet. Join the Library as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of exciting programs and activities, beginning with this celebration of music from Brazil and Argentina. Alejandro Brittes Quartet innovatively explores the traditional, cross-border chamamé musical genre, a confluence of indigenous Guaranà and Iberian Baroque influences, slow-cooked over centuries.
The concert will occur on September 21 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
The unique ensemble, based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, is composed of Alejandro Brittes (accordion) from Argentina, as well as Charlise Bandeira (flute), AndrĂ© Ely (seven-stringed guitar), and Carlos de CĂ©saro (contrabass), all three from Brazil. ChamamĂ©, whose epicenter is northeast Argentina, has been  inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.Â
Brittes's musical career spans over 30 years. He has published 100 original compositions and 9 albums, and has performed in 10 nations in the Americas and Europe, collaborating with chamamĂ© legends such as RaĂşl Barboza and Chango Spasiuk. For 2023 U.S. touring, Alejandro Brittes Quartet is supported by IbermĂşsicas/Mid Atlantic Arts´ Iber Exchange program, and the Lei de Incentivo a Cultura – Rouanet of the Federal Government of Brazil. Â
This event is made possible in part with the support of the Embassy of Argentina.Â
This event is supported by the Hispanic Cultural Society.
Click here for more information.
The concert will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
Click here for more information.
Click here for more information.
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
The Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center recently announced the opening of applications for the third round of Community Collections Grants, with a deadline of August 18, 2023 at 2:00PM Eastern Time. Find more information, and instructions on how to apply, at the link!
These grants will support individuals or non-profit organizations in producing cultural documentation–photographs, interviews, audio or video recordings about their community from the community’s perspective. Materials gathered through this program will become part of the Library’s permanent collection, while locally-held copies can enhance (or seed) community archives. This exciting program is part of the larger Of the People: Widening the Path initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation that creates dynamic opportunities for more people to engage with the Library. All activity under the initiative will expand the Library’s efforts to ensure that our historical record reflects a diversity of experiences, thus weaving a more inclusive American story.
Formal Notices of Funding Opportunity can be found on Grants.gov for individuals and for organizations. The due date for applications is August 18, 2023 at 2:00PM Eastern Time. Grants will be up to $50,000, and will support projects of up to 12-months in length.Â
Click here for more information.
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
|
|
Click here for more information.
We're sorry to report that the Reverend Robert Jones has had to postpone his Homegrown 2023 appearance in the Coolidge Auditorium as part of Thursday's Live at the Library festivities. But our friend Christylez Bacon has agreed to perform instead! Bacon's performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When entering the Library, please tell the officers on duty you are there for a concert event.Â
Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a Grammy Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, DC. As a performer, Christylez multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human beat-box (oral percussion), all while continuing the oral tradition of storytelling through his lyrics.
With a mission towards cultural acceptance and unification through music, Christylez is constantly pushing the envelope – from performances at the National Cathedral, to becoming the first Hip-Hop artist to be featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has composed and performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, collaborated with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and created an intentional culture exchange project and subsequent documentary between Washington, DC and BrasĂlia, Brazil.
In Washington, DC, Christylez began a cross-cultural collaborative concert series, “Washington Sound Museum” (WSM). WSM is a monthly intimate celebration of music featuring guest artists from diverse musical genres with Christylez Bacon and his progressive hip-hop orchestra. Since WSM’s inception, Christylez has collaborated with artists from various cultural backgrounds, ranging from the Hindustani & Carnatic music of India, the contemporary Arabic music of Egypt, and the music of Brazil. At the beginning for the pandemic, Christylez saw this socially-distant period as an opportunity to bring international artists and audiences together in an online video series titled, Beatbox Remix Series.
When we contacted Christylez about stepping in, he was on his way to an appearance at the White House! We're excited to see what he brings to the Coolidge Auditorium!
Click here for more information.
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Rev. Robert B. Jones, an award-winning musician and a scholar of African American musical traditions. Jones’s performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
Reverend Robert B. Jones, Sr. is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor, and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. As an ordained minister and a Baptist pastor, he has an unwavering faith the cultural importance of sacred and traditional American roots music. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity is a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Rev. Jones makes his home in Detroit, Michigan, and performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he is accomplished on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and ukulele. He has recorded six albums of original and traditional songs. In addition to his solo performances, he often collaborates musically with his wife, Sister Bernice Jones, and his friend Matt Watroba. In 2017 Robert and Matt co-founded “Common Chords”, an educational organization designed to create community, cultural and historical connections through music and the arts.
Jones is an award-winning blues radio host, has taught music history at Wayne State University, and serves as a member of the affiliate faculty at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. He has written, performed, and recorded a one man show entitled “An Evening With Lead Belly.” Jones is also a nationally recognized storyteller, and has been featured at many festivals including the National Storytelling Festival.
Click here for more information.
Click here for more information.
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Rev. Robert B. Jones, an award-winning musician and a scholar of African American musical traditions. Jones’s performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
Reverend Robert B. Jones, Sr. is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor, and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. As an ordained minister and a Baptist pastor, he has an unwavering faith the cultural importance of sacred and traditional American roots music. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity is a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Rev. Jones makes his home in Detroit, Michigan, and performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he is accomplished on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and ukulele. He has recorded six albums of original and traditional songs. In addition to his solo performances, he often collaborates musically with his wife, Sister Bernice Jones, and his friend Matt Watroba. In 2017 Robert and Matt co-founded “Common Chords”, an educational organization designed to create community, cultural and historical connections through music and the arts.
Jones is an award-winning blues radio host, has taught music history at Wayne State University, and serves as a member of the affiliate faculty at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. He has written, performed, and recorded a one man show entitled “An Evening With Lead Belly.” Jones is also a nationally recognized storyteller, and has been featured at many festivals including the National Storytelling Festival.
Click here for more information.
Click here for more information.
|
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with From China To Appalachia, featuring Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian. Â
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT
Thomas Jefferson Building, Room LJ 119
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Grammy Award winning American Roots artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer join with Chinese classical hammered dulcimer player Chao Tian in a show that includes music from China to Appalachia and beyond. Instrumentation includes yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), gourd banjo, five-string banjo, ukulele, guitars, dumbek, cello-banjo and mandolin.
The group’s repertoire includes traditional Chinese and Appalachian music as well as contemporary and traditional music from around the world. Unusual combinations explore new arrangements to old music. Cathy and Marcy join Chao in singing Chinese songs, and Chao easily adds her love of American Old-Time music to fiddle tunes and songs.
From China to Appalachia was born of a friendship and mutual love of musical exploration experienced in jam sessions that inspired a show speaking to the power of music to connect cultures. The trio’s inaugural performances include the Music Center at Strathmore (N. Bethesda, MD) and the Ashe Civic Center (Ashe Co., NC). On their own, these awesome artists have performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on PBS and National Public Radio.
You may need a timed-entry pass to enter the Library on May 3. For information on getting a pass, click on the concert in the list on the page at the link. Then find and visit the "Plan Your Visit" link at the left of the page.
For more information, please call 202-707-1743. Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.
Visit our upcoming concerts page for more information.
|
Just a reminder that the American Folklife Center is hiring! We have a job for a folklife reference librarian, and two archivist positions for work on our Community Collections Grant materials. Find out all about the positions and apply at the link!
Click here for more information.
|
The American Folklife Center invites you to a reception, screening, and panel discussion around "Language is Life," a new film from the PBS Series "Native America."
Â
Thursday, November 9, 2023
6:00 pm - 8:40 pm EST
Thomas Jefferson Building - Members Room (LJ162)
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Registration is required. Follow the link for more info and a link to registration.
From Hollywood films on the big screen to sacred writing deep within the Earth, from long-lost voices captured in wax cylinders, Native people are fighting to keep their languages and ways of life alive. Though many of the approximately 170 Native languages spoken across the United States remain at risk today, it is a time of hope. A revolutionary effort to revitalize traditional languages is unfolding across Native America; and Native innovators are applying 21st-century technologies to save a core element of their culture and inspire future generations. “Language Is Life” highlights how Native heroes are using every tool to recover, revitalize and restore their linguistic traditions. This episode from the PBS series explores the use of a laser-assisted needle to recover Passamaquoddy songs recorded over a century ago and housed at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress. It shows a team creating digital scans of Cherokee writing hidden under graffiti in a Georgia cave. In addition, Manny Wheeler (Navajo) shares his mission to dub Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars into Navajo. Their successes are changing Native America and the world at large.
Part of the PBS series Native America Season 2.
Presented with the support of PBS, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Providence Pictures
Click here for more information and a link to registration.
At the link, find a guest blog post by Professor Sarah Fouts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, on this year's AFC Homegrown Foodways Film Series: Baltimore and New Orleans, which features two films premiering on the Folklife Today blog: "El Camino del Pan a Baltimore" on Tuesday November 7th at noon ET; and "El Camino del Mole a New Orleans" on Tuesday November 14th at noon ET. Then come on back to the blog for the films!
Click here for more information.
Join us for the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award Public Ceremony
Friday, September 29, 2023 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm EDT
Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium (LJG45A)
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC
Come join us as we honor the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows and acknowledge the 2020-2022 honorees in a live ceremony in Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress, September 29, 2023, 5:30 pm-6:45 pm. The NEA National Heritage Fellowships is the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts. Each year since 1982, the program recognizes recipients' artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage. The ceremony is free and open to the public to attend in person, and will also be livestreamed on the Library's YouTube channel.
Click here for more information including the livestream link.
Join us for the American Folklife Center's latest Botkin video lecture, starting September 25 at noon. "Teaching Culture, Teaching Culturally: The Significance of Folklife Education in the Schools" by Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje.
Note:Â The video won't appear until about noon on September 25, at which point it will be at the link! If you visit the link before that, you can check out our blog...and subscribe!
Folklorists Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje present an overview of folklore in K-12 education in the U.S. They discuss their work with the influential non-profit organization Local Learning: The National Network for Folk Arts in Education, their visions, and the diverse and dynamic ways that folklorists and traditional artists are currently engaged in K-12, museum, and community education. For 30 years, Local Learning has trained American educators in folkloristics, created opportunities in education for traditional artists, created resources that bridge folklore and education, and developed important partnerships, including an ongoing relationship with Teaching with Primary Sources here at the Library of Congress.
Paddy Bowman is a prominent folklorist, author, educator and Local Learning’s Founding Director; Lisa Rathje is Executive Director of Local Learning and co-edits the peer-reviewed, multimedia Journal of Folklore and Education.
Click here for the premiere!
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Alejandro Brittes Quartet. Join the Library as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of exciting programs and activities, beginning with this celebration of music from Brazil and Argentina. Alejandro Brittes Quartet innovatively explores the traditional, cross-border chamamé musical genre, a confluence of indigenous Guaranà and Iberian Baroque influences, slow-cooked over centuries.
The concert will occur on September 21 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
The unique ensemble, based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, is composed of Alejandro Brittes (accordion) from Argentina, as well as Charlise Bandeira (flute), AndrĂ© Ely (seven-stringed guitar), and Carlos de CĂ©saro (contrabass), all three from Brazil. ChamamĂ©, whose epicenter is northeast Argentina, has been  inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.Â
Brittes's musical career spans over 30 years. He has published 100 original compositions and 9 albums, and has performed in 10 nations in the Americas and Europe, collaborating with chamamĂ© legends such as RaĂşl Barboza and Chango Spasiuk. For 2023 U.S. touring, Alejandro Brittes Quartet is supported by IbermĂşsicas/Mid Atlantic Arts´ Iber Exchange program, and the Lei de Incentivo a Cultura – Rouanet of the Federal Government of Brazil. Â
This event is made possible in part with the support of the Embassy of Argentina.Â
This event is supported by the Hispanic Cultural Society.
Click here for more information.
The concert will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
Click here for more information.
Click here for more information.
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
The Library of Congress and the American Folklife Center recently announced the opening of applications for the third round of Community Collections Grants, with a deadline of August 18, 2023 at 2:00PM Eastern Time. Find more information, and instructions on how to apply, at the link!
These grants will support individuals or non-profit organizations in producing cultural documentation–photographs, interviews, audio or video recordings about their community from the community’s perspective. Materials gathered through this program will become part of the Library’s permanent collection, while locally-held copies can enhance (or seed) community archives. This exciting program is part of the larger Of the People: Widening the Path initiative funded by the Mellon Foundation that creates dynamic opportunities for more people to engage with the Library. All activity under the initiative will expand the Library’s efforts to ensure that our historical record reflects a diversity of experiences, thus weaving a more inclusive American story.
Formal Notices of Funding Opportunity can be found on Grants.gov for individuals and for organizations. The due date for applications is August 18, 2023 at 2:00PM Eastern Time. Grants will be up to $50,000, and will support projects of up to 12-months in length.Â
Click here for more information.
The concert and interview will be at this link at noon on premiere day!
|
|
Click here for more information.
We're sorry to report that the Reverend Robert Jones has had to postpone his Homegrown 2023 appearance in the Coolidge Auditorium as part of Thursday's Live at the Library festivities. But our friend Christylez Bacon has agreed to perform instead! Bacon's performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When entering the Library, please tell the officers on duty you are there for a concert event.Â
Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) is a Grammy Nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist and multi-instrumentalist from Southeast, Washington, DC. As a performer, Christylez multi-tasks between various instruments such as the West African djembe drum, acoustic guitar, and the human beat-box (oral percussion), all while continuing the oral tradition of storytelling through his lyrics.
With a mission towards cultural acceptance and unification through music, Christylez is constantly pushing the envelope – from performances at the National Cathedral, to becoming the first Hip-Hop artist to be featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has composed and performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, collaborated with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and created an intentional culture exchange project and subsequent documentary between Washington, DC and BrasĂlia, Brazil.
In Washington, DC, Christylez began a cross-cultural collaborative concert series, “Washington Sound Museum” (WSM). WSM is a monthly intimate celebration of music featuring guest artists from diverse musical genres with Christylez Bacon and his progressive hip-hop orchestra. Since WSM’s inception, Christylez has collaborated with artists from various cultural backgrounds, ranging from the Hindustani & Carnatic music of India, the contemporary Arabic music of Egypt, and the music of Brazil. At the beginning for the pandemic, Christylez saw this socially-distant period as an opportunity to bring international artists and audiences together in an online video series titled, Beatbox Remix Series.
When we contacted Christylez about stepping in, he was on his way to an appearance at the White House! We're excited to see what he brings to the Coolidge Auditorium!
Click here for more information.
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Rev. Robert B. Jones, an award-winning musician and a scholar of African American musical traditions. Jones’s performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
Reverend Robert B. Jones, Sr. is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor, and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. As an ordained minister and a Baptist pastor, he has an unwavering faith the cultural importance of sacred and traditional American roots music. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity is a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Rev. Jones makes his home in Detroit, Michigan, and performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he is accomplished on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and ukulele. He has recorded six albums of original and traditional songs. In addition to his solo performances, he often collaborates musically with his wife, Sister Bernice Jones, and his friend Matt Watroba. In 2017 Robert and Matt co-founded “Common Chords”, an educational organization designed to create community, cultural and historical connections through music and the arts.
Jones is an award-winning blues radio host, has taught music history at Wayne State University, and serves as a member of the affiliate faculty at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. He has written, performed, and recorded a one man show entitled “An Evening With Lead Belly.” Jones is also a nationally recognized storyteller, and has been featured at many festivals including the National Storytelling Festival.
Click here for more information.
Click here for more information.
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with the Rev. Robert B. Jones, an award-winning musician and a scholar of African American musical traditions. Jones’s performance will be part of Live! at the Library, the special series featuring extended visiting hours and special programming every Thursday night. It is presented in celebration of Juneteenth, in cooperation with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington.
The concert will occur on June 15 at 7:00 pm in the Coolidge Auditorium. The concert is free, but visitors will require a free timed-entry pass to the Library, which can be reserved by following a link from the listing. Live at the Library festivities begin at 5:00 pm and the concert is at 7:00. When reserving your pass, please select the entry time closest to when you think you’ll arrive at the Library. If all advance passes are gone, the Library expects to give away some passes at the door.
Reverend Robert B. Jones, Sr. is an inspirational musician and storyteller celebrating the history, humor, and power of American roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than thirty years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. As an ordained minister and a Baptist pastor, he has an unwavering faith the cultural importance of sacred and traditional American roots music. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity is a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate.
Rev. Jones makes his home in Detroit, Michigan, and performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he is accomplished on guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and ukulele. He has recorded six albums of original and traditional songs. In addition to his solo performances, he often collaborates musically with his wife, Sister Bernice Jones, and his friend Matt Watroba. In 2017 Robert and Matt co-founded “Common Chords”, an educational organization designed to create community, cultural and historical connections through music and the arts.
Jones is an award-winning blues radio host, has taught music history at Wayne State University, and serves as a member of the affiliate faculty at Boston’s Berklee School of Music. He has written, performed, and recorded a one man show entitled “An Evening With Lead Belly.” Jones is also a nationally recognized storyteller, and has been featured at many festivals including the National Storytelling Festival.
Click here for more information.
Click here for more information.
|
The American Folklife Center continues the 2023 Homegrown concert series with From China To Appalachia, featuring Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian. Â
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT
Thomas Jefferson Building, Room LJ 119
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Grammy Award winning American Roots artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer join with Chinese classical hammered dulcimer player Chao Tian in a show that includes music from China to Appalachia and beyond. Instrumentation includes yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), gourd banjo, five-string banjo, ukulele, guitars, dumbek, cello-banjo and mandolin.
The group’s repertoire includes traditional Chinese and Appalachian music as well as contemporary and traditional music from around the world. Unusual combinations explore new arrangements to old music. Cathy and Marcy join Chao in singing Chinese songs, and Chao easily adds her love of American Old-Time music to fiddle tunes and songs.
From China to Appalachia was born of a friendship and mutual love of musical exploration experienced in jam sessions that inspired a show speaking to the power of music to connect cultures. The trio’s inaugural performances include the Music Center at Strathmore (N. Bethesda, MD) and the Ashe Civic Center (Ashe Co., NC). On their own, these awesome artists have performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on PBS and National Public Radio.
You may need a timed-entry pass to enter the Library on May 3. For information on getting a pass, click on the concert in the list on the page at the link. Then find and visit the "Plan Your Visit" link at the left of the page.
For more information, please call 202-707-1743. Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.
Visit our upcoming concerts page for more information.
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A group of men at the club who hope the male-only rule will change have nominated a set of possible new members
Seven women with leading positions in the British establishment have been nominated as prospective female members of the Garrick in the event that the club agrees to change its rules so that women are able to join.
The classicist Mary Beard, the former home secretary Amber Rudd, Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman and the new Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika are among the first names to have been put forward to the club as possible future members.
Continue reading...Only survivor after vehicle falls 50 metres and catches fire is eight-year-old who was taken to hospital with serious injuries
An eight-year-old child was the sole survivor after a bus carrying 46 people fell 50 metres from a bridge in South Africa into a ravine and caught fire.
The child, who has not been named, was taken to hospital with serious injuries, the transport ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.
Continue reading...Judges issue unanimous decision and say Palestinians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance
The international court of justice has ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza, where sections of the population are facing imminent starvation, in a significant legal rebuke to Israelas claim it is not blocking aid deliveries.
A panel of judges at the UNas top court, which is already considering a complaint from South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, issued the ruling after an emergency measure in January obliging Israel to admit emergency aid.
Continue reading...Former PMas meeting with President Maduro, in capacity as hedge fund consultant, is under further scrutiny
Labour is demanding answers over what the party said was apotentially serious improprietya by Boris Johnson after it emerged that the former prime minister met the Venezuelan president in his role as a consultant for a hedge fund.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said in a letter to Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister and Cabinet Office minister, that there were concerns that Johnson may have breached the ministerial code.
Continue reading...Rights groups say Antonina Favorskaya is accused of links to Alexei Navalnyas aextremist organisationa and is one of six journalists held this month
A journalist who filmed the last video of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny before he died, Antonina Favorskaya, has been detained by authorities.
Favorskaya covered the trials of Navalny for several years and media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders said on Thursday she was one of six journalists across the country held this month.
Continue reading...Mohamed Mansour, a Conservative senior treasurer, is one of several surprise recipients of honours
A businessman and former Egyptian government minister who donated APS5m to the Conservative party last year has unexpectedly been given a knighthood on the recommendation of Rishi Sunak.
Mohamed Mansour, a senior treasurer of the Conservative party for just over a year, was one of several surprise recipients of honours on Thursday, with the citation saying it was given for business, charity and political service.
Continue reading...Eva Tennent, whose operations were scheduled in Edinburgh, has Rett syndrome and advanced scoliosis
A 10-year-old girlas spinal condition has become inoperable after her planned surgery was cancelled seven times in six months, her mother has claimed.
Eva Tennent suffers from Rett syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects brain development, and has advanced scoliosis that causes her spine to twist and curve to the side.
Continue reading...The 37-year-old man from Totton, near Southampton, was arrested on suspicion of seven offences
A man has been arrested by police investigating the discovery of 50 dead hares that were scattered in front of a community shop in a Hampshire village.
The dead mammals, along with the bodies of a barn owl and a kestrel, were found dumped outside Broughton community shop on 15 March.
Continue reading...Afghan regimeas return to public stoning and flogging is because there is ano one to hold them accountablea for abuses, say activists
The Talibanas announcement that it is resuming publicly stoning women to death has been enabled by the international communityas silence, human rights groups have said.
Safia Arefi, a lawyer and head of the Afghan human rights organisation Womenas Window of Hope, said the announcement had condemned Afghan women to return to the darkest days of Taliban rule in the 1990s.
Continue reading...Dan Dafydd, who accidentally ordered 80 cases of eggs, aims to raise APS20,000 for the RNLI by Easter Sunday
For a small shop owner on a small island as far as mistakes go, Dan Dafyddas was a pretty big one leaving him with quite a dilemma: how do you get rid of 80 cases of Easter eggs when you meant to order only 80 eggs?
For Dafydd, the owner of Sinclair General Stores on Sanday, one of the Orkney islands (population approximately 500), the 720 eggs were enough to feed everyone almost twice over. A few too many even for those with a sweet tooth.
Continue reading...Researchers analysed the words in more than 12,000 English-language songs across several genres from 1980 to 2020
Youare not just getting older. Song lyrics really are becoming simpler and more repetitive, according to a study published on Thursday.
Lyrics have also become angrier and more self-obsessed over the last 40 years, the study found, reinforcing the opinions of cranky ageing music fans everywhere.
Continue reading...US pushes exporters to cut off clients who might sell weapons parts on to Russia; Zelenskiy insists Putin a threat to Nato countries. What we know on day 765
Mayoral races may be important indicator of Starmeras political momentum as party seeks to turn 20-point national lead into results
If a telltale sign of a politicianas confidence is how willingly they expose themselves to direct media scrutiny, then the likely narrative of Mayas local elections was on full view on Thursday in Dudley.
While Rishi Sunak had followed his Conservative launch speech last Friday with the strictly controlled and limited format of a brief TV clip, Keir Starmer answered journalistsa questions for about 40 minutes, covering everything from council spending to Angela Rayneras tax affairs.
Continue reading...Experts say UK-imposed sanctions will make no difference when hacking is part of ecosystem of dealing with Beijing
With the announcement that the UK government would be imposing sanctions on two individuals and one entity accused of targeting a without success a UK parliamentarians in cyber-attacks in 2021, the phrase atip of the iceberga comes to mind. But that would underestimate the iceberg.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, said the sanctions were a sign that atargeting our elected representatives and electoral processes will never go unchallengeda.
Continue reading...Tom Power led an alliance that brought about the pioneering health initiative which has since been adopted by more than 70 countries a and has saved countless lives
Exactly 20 years ago an Irish civil servant named Tom Power won a remarkable battle against the tobacco industry when Ireland enacted the worldas first ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces.
TV crews from Japan, the US and elsewhere flocked to Dublin to record the events of 29 March 2004. No one knew what would happen. Would smokers revolt? Would pubs flout the law? Would a bold experiment go up in smoke?
Continue reading...This charming period drama about a 1920s Russian aristocrat being kept in a hotel by the Bolsheviks sees McGregor on sparkling form. Heas an intoxicating, swaggering figure of delight
Some books are difficult to film, and TV is a fool to attempt them. Others, however, perch on the shelf poised and preened, all dressed up and ready for the small screen. Amor Towlesas 2016 novel A Gentleman in Moscow could have been designed as a handsome, charming period drama, of the kind that once slid smoothly on to BBC One or ITV1 on a Sunday evening. Itas actually on Paramount+, but is handsome and charming and Sunday-ish still.
It remains to be seen whether Paramount takes advantage of the fact that the novelas early chapters create a setup that could run on TV indefinitely, or whether it renders roughly the same amount of narrative as the book then bids us adieu. But that setup is this: in Moscow in 1921, four years after the revolution, the countryas disfranchised aristocracy face summary trials and executions. Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov (Ewan McGregor) a Sasha to his friends, aYour Excellencya to the dwindling minority of Russians who still recognise honorifics a seems to be next, but is saved from death by the surprising fact that he is the credited author of a seminal revolutionary poem.
Continue reading...The Oscar-nominated actor and the boss of XL Recordings a now a synth-pop duo performing ghostly songs with lyrics rooted in childhood trauma a discuss the healing power of making art
Inside a rehearsal space scented with essential oils, a new, unlikely electro-art-pop duo are preparing for their live debut. Called Sam Morton, they are the collaborative pairing of the twice-Oscar-nominated actor, director and writer Samantha Morton and the celebrated producer, songwriter and boss of XL Recordings Richard Russell. Morton, wearing denim dungarees, is singing the fluty, jazzy, bassy, atmospheric Letas Walk in the Night while Russell, in jeans and a graffitied white T-shirt, hunches over production consoles, alongside a keyboard player and a guitarist.
We are in the Copper House, Russellas personal studio. It is characterised by an undeniable vibe: a lime-green artwork on a scarlet wall announces aRESIDENCE LA REVOLUTIONa; the phrase aFATE IS DECIDEDa, alongside descriptions of cloud formations, is chalked on black walls. The tiny bathroom is wallpapered in Buddhist texts and stocked with books, including The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
Continue reading...(Parkwood/Columbia)
Straying far beyond its original country concept, the musicianas eighth album straddles the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the blues a and Becky with the Good Hair via Dolly Partonas Jolene
American Requiem, the opening track of BeyoncA(c)as eighth studio album, is many things. It offers a touch of state-of-the-nation address a aCan we stand for something? Now is the time to face the winda a and a sprinkling of the kind of vague but apparently personal lyrics that send social media into a frenzy of decoding: what are her afatheras sinsa that BeyoncA(c) has apparently acleanseda herself of? Who are the afairweather friendsa for whom she claims to be planning aa funerala?
Itas also a loud statement of what you might call BeyoncA(c)as bona fides. She is, she avers, athe grandbaby of a moonshine man [from] Gadsden, Alabamaa who furthermore has roots in Louisiana. aThey used to say I spoke too country,a she protests, adding: aWhat could be more country than that?a
Continue reading...Poor harvests in extreme weather conditions have led to a tripling of cocoa prices a but farmers have seen no benefit
Around the world this holiday weekend, people will consume hundreds of millions of Easter eggs and bunnies, as part of an annual chocolate intake that can exceed 8kg (18lb) for every person in the UK, or 5kg in the US and Europe. But a global shortage of cacao a the seed from which chocolate is made a has brought warnings of a achocolate meltdowna that could see prices increase and bars shrink further.
This week, cocoa prices rose to all-time highs on commodity exchanges in London and New York, reaching more than $10,000 a tonne for the first time, after the third consecutive poor harvest in west Africa. Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together produce more than half of the global cacao crop, have been hit by extreme weather supercharged by the climate crisis and the El NiA+-o weather phenomenon. This has been exacerbated by disease and underinvestment in ageing plantations.
Continue reading...In rural Rajasthan, villagers have taken action against climate damage by constructing water-saving walls, trenches and dams to revive their farmland
The villagers of Surajpura have built a wall: a 15ft (4.5 metre) mud bulwark that snakes through barren land for nearly a mile, with an equally long trench dug beneath it. It might not look like it, but for the 650 residents who toiled on it for six months in 2022, it is an architectural marvel.
The wall passed its strength test last year when it stopped rainwater runoffs, and the trench channelled the water to parched farms in the drought-prone region of Rajasthan in north-west India, reviving them for the first time in more than two decades.
Continue reading...The Derry Girls actor is funny to her bones in this sitcom about mental health and long-term friendship. Itas full of lovely touches, if not enough nuance
In the opening episode of Big Mood, struggling playwright Maggie (Derry Girlsa and Bridgertonas Nicola Coughlan) is on a mission. And on a scooter. But that was an expensive mistake, so she gives it away to a passerby. She needs her best friend Eddie (Itas a Sinas Lydia West) to take the day off work, running the bar her late dad left her, and come with her to her old secondary school, where she has been invited to make a speech about her career in the theatre. Maggie is hoping to meet her old history teacher, Mr Wilson, on whom she developed a passionate teenage crush after he saved her from lecherous maths teacher Mr Phillips. aBecause he wouldnat shag a child!a she beams, full of blissful memory. aWow,a says Eddie. aWe should nominate him for a Pride of Britain award.a
Off they go, and a parade of increasingly manic hijinks ensue. Which is very much expected sitcommery until Eddie asks, as they escape the now chaos-filled school, if Maggie is, well, manic. And she is. She has bipolar disorder, and has stopped taking her meds because she canat write while sheas on them. Thus, we find ourselves in this bleaker territory for the rest of the six-episode series, which explores the limits of a decade-long friendship between the two women as the pressures of post-20s life start to mount. aI fix problems a you have them,a says Eddie cheerily at the start. But no relationship can survive such a state for ever.
Continue reading...Photos of French presidentas three-day trip to Brazil to reaffirm countriesa partnership delight internet observers
If the official photos are anything to go by, Emmanuel Macronas three-day trip to Brazil has been more romantic getaway than international diplomacy.
The French president, who ended his tour of the South American country on Thursday with a state visit to the capital, BrasAlia, prompted online hilarity after the publication of photos showing him being particularly chummy with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz InA!cio Lula da Silva.
Continue reading...If Thames Water collapses in the weeks ahead, there is only one smart, long-term response: public ownership
aC/ Adam Almeida is a senior data analyst at the thinktank Common Wealth
The question mark over the future of Britainas largest water supplier, Thames Water, has put its 16 million customers across London and south-east England a myself included a in an uncertain position. While water will still keep coming out of our taps, the price of these financial woes will probably be borne by customers and taxpayers. Meanwhile, Thames Wateras shareholders have spent the last three decades benefiting from the companyas massive financial gains. If ever we needed an example of the risks of selling essential infrastructure to investment firms, this is it.
Auditors warned in late 2023 that the debt-laden company could run out of money by April if shareholders did not inject it with much-needed cash. Now investors are saying they wonat provide Thames Water with APS500m of emergency funding, leading to speculation that the company will be temporarily renationalised.
Adam Almeida is a senior data analyst at the thinktank Common Wealth
Continue reading...Sir John Mitting will rule on whether undercover officers broke the law by deceiving women like me. Yet heas a member of a male-only club
Those of us involved in the so-called spy cops scandal have followed with interest the recent media coverage of the men-only Garrick Club and its membership list of high-profile individuals. It is not news to us that senior judges and powerful men in the security services have been members. Included among the elite was the chair of the public inquiry into undercover policing, John Mitting. Since his appointment as inquiry chair in 2017 we have been calling this out, as we believe it is an obvious conflict of interest a yet our concerns have predictably been ignored.
The inquiry had been established two years earlier by the then prime minister, Theresa May, as a direct result of investigations by women like me into the disappearances of our ex-partners, and the subsequent revelations of their true identities as Metropolitan police undercover officers. The abuse of women, and institutional sexism in the police, are fundamental to understanding the significance of this inquiry.
Alison is one of eight women who first took legal action against the Metropolitan police over the conduct of undercover officers and a founder member of Police Spies Out of Lives. A core participant in the public inquiry into undercover policing, she is one of the authors of Deep Deception a The Story of the Spycop Network by the Women who Uncovered the Shocking Truth
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
There have been no changes since the ex-mogulas conviction as lawmakers fail to pass regulations to protect the public
There is a palpable feeling of relief in the cryptocurrency industry. Evangelists are preaching the good news that the industry has been purged of the Sam Bankman-Frieds, the Alex Mashinskys, the Do Kwons and the Changpeng Zhaos of the world. They proclaim that crypto can finally ascend from its purgatorial, awild westa days to become a respectable sector of the financial world blessed by regulators and speculators alike.
That exultant attitude has contributed to surging cryptocurrency prices, which surpassed previous all-time highs in the weeks leading up to Bankman-Friedas sentencing of 25 years in prison on Thursday.
Continue reading...If the high-rollers surrounding the disgraced FTX founder had any qualms about taking his money, they didnat show it
Later today, a man who has recently turned 32 will be hauled in front of a Manhattan judge. Already convicted of huge fraud, he knows heas going to prison. The only question is for how long. If the US government gets its way, he will not emerge before his 80th birthday.
This is the final disgrace of Sam Bankman-Fried. The judge, politicians and the worldas press will declare him one of the biggest swindlers in American history. They will note how within three years he built a marketplace for digital currencies, or crypto, that was worth around $32bn a and made himself the worldas richest person under 30. Still it wasnat enough. He spent perhaps $8bn of his customersa savings on luxury homes, risky investments and whatever else took his fancy.
Continue reading...Small venues are the heart of our musical culture. Hereas my two-pronged plan to keep that heart beating
Grassroots venues are the foundation upon which the mighty British music industry has been built, fuelling the phenomenal level of talent this small island has produced. Yet while successive governments have shouted about how they are a shining demonstration of the countryas creativity, the very same people have cut funding and opened the cultural sector to the most brutal market logic. Alongside government neglect, small venues across the country also face rising trade costs, pressure on disposable incomes, greedy property developers, post-pandemic changes in attitudes to communal experiences and the continuing shift towards an increasingly screen-based lifestyle.
I cut my teeth DJing and dancing in small venues up and down the country, from my earliest experiences at Christieas, in Sutton a when Iad head home after Carl Cox finished up as I had to be at school the next day a to a 10-year weekly Monday residency at Bar Rumba in Soho and many formative nights at the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham. There are countless more a far too many to list them all. If it werenat for these backrooms, I would not be where I am today as a DJ. Nor would I have encountered (and still do!) those voices that push the culture forward and bring energy and positive momentum to our world.
Gilles Peterson is a DJ, broadcaster and founder of Brownswood Recordings
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