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Posted by: Douglas D. Peach
In this post, the American Folklife Center highlights a July 2024 concert performance and oral history interview with the Swanky Kitchen Band--an ensemble performing fiddle-based kitchen band music from the Cayman Islands.
Posted in: Cayman Islands, Cultural Heritage, Folk Music, Folksong, Homegrown Concert Series, Homegrown Plus
Posted by: Douglas D. Peach
In this post, the American Folklife Center (AFC) highlights a May 2024 concert performance and oral history interview with the Somapa Thai Dance Company and Orchestra--an ensemble performing traditional music from Thailand, whose members now predominately live in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. The AFC organized Somapa's performance in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and as part of the 2024 Homegrown Concert Series.
Posted in: Asian American History, Asian Americans, Cultural Heritage, Dance, Folk Music, Folksong, Homegrown Plus
Posted by: Douglas D. Peach
On June 5, 2024, the American Folklife Center welcomed Istiwanāt Live!--an Arabic musical ensemble, or takht, formed by four ethnomusicologists with expertise in Middle Eastern music--to perform as part of the Homegrown Concert Series. Many of the group's songs were reinterpreted from archival collections at the American Folklife Center. In this post, find a video of group's performance and oral history interview, along with notes on their performance from ethnomusicologist (and current AFC intern) Hanna Salmon.
Posted in: Arab Americans, Archive Challenge, ethnomusicologists, Folk Music, Folksong, immigration
Posted by: Douglas D. Peach
On April 10, 2024, Dr. Melissa Cooper (Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University-Newark) presented a fascinating lecture on Gullah Geechee cultural history at the Library of Congress, as part of the American Folklife Center's Benjamin A. Botkin Lecture Series. In this post, we highlight the video recording of Cooper's lecture and an oral history interview with Cooper, conducted by American Folklife Center staff members.
Posted in: AFC Events, African American History, African Americans, Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series, Black History Month, Cultural Heritage, Folk Music, Folklorists, Gullah Geechee, Narratives