CENTERNEWSWINTER 1995 • VOLUME XVII, NUMBER 1

American Folklife Center· The Library of Congress

,

The American Folklife Centerwas created in 1976 by the U.S.Congress to "preserve and presentAmerican folklife" through pro­grams of research, documentation,archival preservation, referenceservice, live performance, exhibi­tion, publication, and training. TheCenter incorporates the Archiveof Folk Culture, which was estab·lished in the Music Division of theLibrary of Congress in 1928, and isnow one of the largest collectionsof ethnographic material from theUnited States and around theworld.

AdministrationAlan Jabbour, Director

Trellis Wright, Spt'cial AssistantDoris Craig, AdmilristrQlive Assisla'"

Stephanie Parks, ClerkCamila Bryce-Laporte,

Progrrlm CoordinatorJennifer A. Cutting.Program Coordinator

AcquisitionsJoseph C. Hickerson, Head

ProcessingStephanie A. Hall, Archivist Coordi,lalor

Catherine Hiebert Kerst, ArchivistPrograms

Peter T. Bartis, Folklife SpecialistMary Hufford, Folklife Specialist

David A. Taylor, Folklife Specialis/Publications

James Hardin, EditorPublic Events

Theadocia Austen, CoordinatorReference

Gerald E. Parsons, Re[erelrct LibmriallJudith A. Gray, Folkli[e Specialist

Administrative OfficeTel: 202 707--6590Fax: 202 707-2076Reference ServiceTel: 202 707·5510

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Federal Cylinder ProjectTel: 202 707-174D

Board of TrusteesJuris Ubans, Chair, Maille

Robert Malir, Jr., Vice-elmir, KanSDSNina Archabal, MinneS<JtaLindy Boggs, Lollisiana;

Washillgtoll, D.C.Carolyn Hecker, Maine

William L. Kinney Jr, Soll/h CarolinaJudith McCulloh, //finois

Ex Officio MembersJames H. Billington,Librarian ofCongressI. Michael Heyman,

Secretary of tlte SmithS<Jllialr lns/ill/tiollJane Alexander, Chaimlall,

Na/ional Eudowment for the ArtsSheldon Hackney, Chairman,

National Endowment for the HllmallititsAlan Jabbour, Director,American Folklifr Cl'n/a

FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWSJames Hardin, Editor

David A. Taylor, Editorial AdvisorJohn Biggs, Library ofCollgress

Graphics Ullit, Desigller

Folklife Center News publishes

articles on the programs and ac­tivities of the American FolklifeCenter, as well as other articles ontraditional expressive culture. It isavailable free of charge from theLibrary of Congress, AmericanFolklife Center, Washington, D.C.20.540-8100. The text of issues ofFolklife Cellter News from Spring1992 to the present are available onLC MARVEL, the Library ofCongress's internet Gopher server.LC MARVEL is available throughyour local Gopher server. Or youmay connect directly throughTelnet to marvel.loc.gov, and thenlogin as marvel. From the mainmenu, choose "Research and Ref­erence," then "Reading Rooms,"then "American Folklife Center,"then "Publications," then "FolklifeCenter News." FOIk/ife Cell/er Newsdoes not publish announcementsfrom other institutions or reviewsof books from publishers other thanthe Library of Congress. Readerswho would like to comment onCenter activities or newsletter ar­ticles may address their remarks tothe editor.

EDITOR'S NOTES

I met Gerry Parsons in 1958, whenwe were freshman at Colgate Uni­versity, in Hamilton, New York, liv­ing on the third and fourth floors ofEast Hall. Even then he was takenwith folk music(as he understood it)and attempted to indoctrinate mewith the likes of John Jacob Niles,Pete Seeger, Jean Ritchie, and theNew LostCity Ramblers. He thoughtJoan Baez had one of the loveliestvoices he had everheard; I preferredthe professionally trained richnessofOdetta. He worked atfinger-pick­ing on his steel-string Martin guitar;I joined the Colgate 13 and ChapelChoir.

We agreed on the Weavers, andonce waited forthem over two hoursin the Colgate gymnasium, as theymade their way there through anupstate New York winter storm. Ourinterests ranged beyond music, for­tunately, into literature, Americansociety, politics, and culture, and webegan a conversation of intellectualexchanges that has continued fornearly thirty-eight years.

Gerry wasalso interested in hunt­ing, and that pursuit took him outinto the woods and farmlands sur­rounding Hamilton, where (I like tothink, albeit romantically no doubt)his ideas matured and his feelingsfor traditional ways and countrypeople deepened.

After college, Gerry teamed upwith classmate Dan Adams to per­form in coffee houses and other ven­ues as "Daniel and the Deacon" (this

contil/lled on page 15

FOLKLINE

For timely information on the fieldof folklore and folklife, includingtraining and professional opportu­nities and news items of nationalinterest, a taped announcement isavailable around the clock, exceptduring the hours of 9 A.M. untilnoon (eastern time) each Monday,when it is updated. Folkline is ajoint project of the AmericanFolklife Center and the AmericanFolklore Society. Dial:

202 707·2000

Cover: Legong dancers perform to agamelanensemble, Bali, 1941. Photoby Howard Kincheloe

Folklife Center News

Music for the Gods:Second Rykodisc Album in the

Endangered Music Project

Gamelan Ensemble, Bali, 1941. Photo by Howard Kincheloe

By James Hardin

On October 18, 1994, Music for theGods: The Fahnestock South Sea Expe­ditioll: Indonesia, a selection of musicfrom the American Folklife Center'sFahnestock South Sea Collection,was released by Rykodisc (ReO10315). The CD is the second in theEndangered Music Series, a jointproject ofGrateful Dead percussion­ist Mickey Hart'scompany360° Pro­ductions and the American FolklifeCenter.

Winter 1995

Mickey Hart first came to theLibrary in the early 19805 withSmithsonian Institution ethno·musicologistThomas Vennum todophotographic research for his bookDrummi"g at tile Edge of Magic. Helearned about the collections in theArchiveofFolkCultureand returnedin 1989 to discuss with Centerdirec­tor Alan Jabbour and reference li­brarians Judith Gray and GeraldParsons an idea for a new series ofcompact discs from the Center's eth­nographic recordings.

Although a partnership betweenthe successful rock musician and atiny cultural agency at the Libraryseemed unlikely at first, Jabbour rec­ognized that Hart offered not onlymusical expertiseand acoustic savvybut also marketing and promotionalskills the Center could never musteron its own.

The purpose of the EndangeredMusic Project is to select FolkArchive field recordingsofculturaltraditions that are threatened orunder stress, digitally rem aster

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Folklife Center News

The 137-loot-lon9, three-masted schooner Direcrorllcruising Long Island Sound in the late 1930s.The second Fahnestock South Sea Expedition ended October 18, 1940, when the vessel was lost

oft the coast of Queensland, Australia. Photo courtesy 01 Margaret Fahnestock Lewis

"The Fahnestock expeditionsmake a great story," says Jabbour."An American family with a pas­sion for the sea sets out in the latethirties and early forties, firsl todocument ornithological speci­mens for the American Museum ofNatural History, then decides torecord musical traditions as well.Their third expedition occurred afew weeks before Pearl Harbor andinvolved intelligence gatheringwork for President Roosevelt, whoenlisted their help with the ideathat war might soon break out. Somany of their recordings weremade in the nick of time before theentire region was transformed byWorld War 11."

Bruce Falmes!ock (1911-1942)andSheridan Fahnestock (1912-1965)made Ihreeexpeditions to Indonesiacollecting insects, birds, and mate·rial culture. On their third expedi­tion, funded by the federal govern­ment under the direction of the presi­dent, the Fahnestocks used state·of·the-art Presto disc-cutters to recordoverone hundred sidesof music fromeastern Java, Bali, Madura, andArjasa.

Music accompanies all aspects ofIndonesian life-the labor of farm-

The success of the recording,which has already soldabout len thousand copies,has raised expectations for

the second CD, Mllsic For the Gods."This new recording should get alot of attention," says Jabbour. "Balihas always been of interest.Gamelan music, which comprisesthe bulk of the album, is cultivatedin the United States, Australia, andEurope, as well as in Indonesia.This release will allow devotees ofthe music to hear the tradition as itwas practiced a half century ago."(Both TIle Spirit Cries and Mllsicfortlie Gods are available at recordstores nation-wide. To order fromRykadisc, call 800-232-7585)

Gerald Parsons negotiated withMargaret Fahnestock Lewis to bringthe Fahnestock South Sea Collectionto the Falklife Center in 1986. It hadbeen instorageat her Maryland homefor over forty years (see Folk/ife Cefl­ter Nt'lOs, spring 1988).

aHan.Theysent tapes taMickey Hart,who made the final selection for thefirst album in the series, Tile SpiritCries: Mllsic From the Rail/forests ofSO/lth America alld the Caribbeau(Rykodisc ReO 10250).

them using state·of-the-art soundprocessing equipment, and releasethem on compact disc. Some of theproceeds from the project will helpsupport the performers on the discand their communities, and will helpsupport future releases. "Mickey isenthusiastic and driven," says AlanJabbour. "He senses that endanger­ment can be a motive for action. Hethrows himself personally into theprojects he undertakes, and enlistshis associates in the same quest."

Gerald Parsons suggested musicfrom the rainforests ofSouth Americaand the Caribbean as a beginning,for the very reason that the Centerstaff did not know the full value andextent of its collections from thoseareas. A record project CQuid be theoccasion for processing and catalog·ing the material. "The project alsoallowed us to reevaluate what andwho we would call New Worldrainforest communities," saysJabbour. "Some turned out to be Af­rican American communities as wellas Native peoples."

Ethnomusicologists Ken Bilby andJames McKee were brought in to re­view and evaluate about one hun­dred hours of material, from whichthey selected ten hours (or consider-

4

In the main cabin of Director II, on the Fahnestock South Sea Expedition, there were two seatings for each meal. At thisconvivial gathering are many of the principals on the voyage. Seated around the table, from lell to right: George Peterson,Jack Scott, George Thomas Foister, Mary Sheridan Fahnestock, Sheridan Fahnestock, Margaret Steele Fahnestock (now

Mrs. Margaret Fahnestock Lewis), Rollin Grant, Ladislaw Reday, Jack Morris, and Helen FoIster. Photo courtesy of MargaretFahnestock Lewis

ers, the play of children, royal cer­emony, theater, and rituals of birthand death. The Indonesian orches­tra-known as gamelan-providesmany of the country's best-lovedmusical experiences. Gamelan en­sembles are dominated by bronzegongs and metallophones (bronze­keyed xylophones), and gamelanmusic is characterized by what hasbeen called a sacred geometry. Ev­erything, from the number of beatsto the arrangement and design of theinstruments, adheres toa precisesym­metry and cosmology, reflecting aworld view rooted in Hindu-Bud­dhism.

In addition to the driving energyof the large gamelan ensembles,Music for tile Gods includes simpleand gentle performances featuringvoices, bamboo flutes and reed in­struments, and one featuring an In­donesian Jew's harp played by ayoung girl. There are also the sounds

Wi"ter 1995

of the legendary Kecak, or monkeydance, with complex counterpoint ofinterlocking chants by a two-hun­dred man chorus, that build to anecsta tic frenzy.

Mickey Hart hopes to producemore recordings, in his plan to sharethe rich and varied treasures of theArchive of Folk Culture with both anational and international audience.Alan Jabbour sees the EndangeredMusic Series as a natural part of theprocess of acquiring and disseminat­ing material that has been underwayCor many years. The Library beganissuing recordings (rom the Archiveof American Folk Song in 1942, overhalf a century ago. Those famous al­bums helped attract material to theFolk Archive in their lime, and thisnew series will do the same. "Theentire process is circular," saysJabbour, "acquiring and dissemina­tion, a flow of culture."

Mickey Hart at the Ubrary of Congress,March 1993, for a symposium on theEndangered Music Project. Photo byYusef EI·Amin

5

Virginia Folklore Society Honors Gerald Parsons

Reference librarian Gerald Parsons (left). Margaret Fahnestock Lewis, andethnomusicorogist James McKee view a sequence 01 film footage (on video) madeduring the Fahnestock South Sea Expedition. Parsons negotiated with Mrs. lewis tobring the Fahnestock Collection to the Center in 1986. Photo by Carl Fleischhauer

By James Hardin

The eighty-first annual meeting ofthe Virginia Folklore Society washeld on November 12, at the Univer­sity ofVirginia, in honoroiGerald E.Parsons, reference librarian for theAmerican Folklife Center. The prOegram was conceived and organizedby Nan Purdue, president of the so­ciety, to thank Gerry for the manycontributions he has made to thestudy of folklore, and the help he hasgiven folklorists, both in his work atthe Folklife Center and through hisown personaJ example.

Center folklife specialistsStephanie Hall, Mary Hufford, andDavid Taylorpresenled papers, allconnected with themes that are ofparticular interest to Gerry orprojects to which he has contrib­uted. Hall spoke about "Unpub­lished, Multiformat, Ethnographic,Created Works," a designationGerry coined to describe the col­lections in the Archiveof Folk Cul­ture (see Gerry Parsons's article,pages 7-10). Hufford spoke on"Marshinalia and Swamp Life," il­lustrating her talk with photo­graphs of Gerry hunting railbirdson the EasternShore. Taylorspokeon "Traditional Design Techniquesfor Vernacular Boats," citingGerry's long interest in duck hunt­ing vessels and craftsmanship.

In addition there were tributesfrom Charles Camp, Marylandstate folklorist, who reminiscedabout his own experiences doingfieldwork with Gerry and his wife,Peggy; and professional musicianStephen Wade, of "Banjo Danc­ing" fame, a long-time researcherat the Folk Archive who is work­ing on several projects based onthe collections. Camp calledGerry's fieldwork among the bestthat has ever been done in the stateof Maryland. Wade praised Gerryas a reference librarian who "knitsdisparate ideas, requests from leftfield, endless questions, mountainsof books, past efforts, to new ends,realized truths, amplified visions."He went on to say that "in Gerry

6

Parsons's capacious mind, in hiswonderful heart, in his knowledgeof life's rules, in his gifts with lan­guage, in his subtle discernments,in his graceful calligraphy, in thereverence for life he expressesthrough his ducks and boats, andin his boundless kindness, we rec­ognize a gifted man who is, in fact,an artist."

Well-known Virginia folk artistJohn Jackson sang and played theguitar. Joseph T. Wilson, executivedirector of the National Councilfor the Traditional Arts, sent amessage of greeting and gratitudethrougn a member of his board oftrustees. (Parsons has served onthe council's board as treasurer formany years). The program con­cluded with a musical tribute fromStephen Wade, on the banjo, andAlan Jabbour, on the fiddle.

Several presentations includedreadings from Gerry's own writ­ing, which put before the appre­ciative audience prose so lucid thatit too provided a model of excel-

lence and a reminder of the witand intelligence that characterizesall Gerry's work. In a memo torecommend that the study of hunt­ing and trapping traditions be in­cluded in the FolklifeCenter's NewJersey Pinelands Project, Gerrywrites, "the trapper's image of theworld is extremely fine-grained.In the vastness of a tide marsh, he

looks for the track of a mink nolarger than a thumbprint. Wherethe fin~fisherl1lan watches for theflash of baitfish on the surface ofthe ocean, or looks across the broadhorizon to find a cloud of feedingseabirds, the trapper searches theground under his boots for theglint of a few dried fish scales." Tohis work at the Library of Con­gress, Gerry has brought knowl­edge of both horizons and fishscales, and a large generosity insharing that knowledge with thoseof us who have been lucky enoughto know him.

Folklife Center News

Performers, Collectors, and the Peopleof the United States

By Gerald E. Parsons

As a IIumberojspeakers mel/tiolled atthe meeting of tlie Virginia FolkloreSociety reported all ill this issue ofFolk/lfe Center News, Gerry Parsonsis famous at the Folk/ife Center for hisbeautijully crafted memorandums. Hewrote tllis olle to tile Center's Board ofTrustees all January 7, 1991, and it isprinted here as of illterest to botll COll­

trib,ltoTs to am{ IIsers of the Archiveof Folk Culture. While the memoran­dlllll is /lot Q sln/emc,,' of the "offi­cial" policy of the Library of CO/l­

gress, it represents Gerry's DWIl t1Jink­illg as well (IS current practice andOllgO;lIg discussions at the AmericanFolkllfe Center regarding fhe IIses ofthe Archive.

Questions came up at the last Boardmeeting concerning the proceduresby which we make the contents ofthe Archive of Folk Culture avail­able to the world at large. It hasoccurred to me that it might help towrite out the guidelines we followfor giving access to the collection.

Before I do so, however, I feelthe need to make a couple of basicpoints about the Folk Archive. Thisdiscursus is necessary because wehave discovered a small gap in theEnglish language. Amazing as itmay seem, the sort of collection ofwhich the Archive is such a splen­did example doesn't really have aname. The Archive of Folk Cultureis not an "archive" at all in thesense that professional archivistsuse that term; we do not collect thebusiness records of institutions. Wedo collect manuscript, hundredsof thousands of pages of it, actu­ally, but it would be a very partialtruth to term us a malJuscript re­pository.

Although data may be derivedfrom our materials, derived is animportant word and the Archive isnot a "database." In fact, what weacquire, process, and serve to our

Willter 1995

patrons are representations (invarious media) of human behav­ior. Accordingly, I am inclined tocall our collection-and the manyhundreds of others like it through­out the country and around theworld-a "documentary archive."

I hasten to say, "documentaryarchive" is just my own idiom, andmaybe it isn't very important howwe categorize the Archive of FolkCulture as long as we all under­stand that it is not composed ofinformation about things, butrather composed of representa­tions of actual human expression.

As you know, the aspects ofhuman expression on which wefocus are those that are of ethno­graphic interest. We could there­fore narrow the field and say thatour documentary archive is a sub­species of a sort called the "ethno­graphiC archive." Looked at fromthis perspective, the Archive ofFolk Culture may be seen as a con­glomerate of some seventeen hun~

dred "ethnographic collections."These ethnographic collectionshave at least tnree features that areimportant to our present concern.

First, they are "multi-format"By that I mean that our collectionsalways entail, at the very least,something inscribed on paper aswell as something inscribed on amedium of sound recording orphotography. More often than not,our collections entail documenta­tion in three or four different me­dia. The main point here is thatthere is no such thing as an ethno­graphiC collection that is "just re­cordings" or "just photographs."Second, ethnographic collectionssuch as ours are "unpublished."The Library of Congress acquirespl/blished documentaries of folkculture by the boxcar-films, booksof anthropological description,sound recordings with accompa·nying printed matter-but thosematerials do not enter the Archive

of Folk Culture. True, many of ourcollections have provided the fod·der for such books, recordings, andfilms, but our business is with theraw material, not the finishedproduct.

Third, the Archive's ethno­graphic collections are "createdworks." In recent years, this fea·ture has gained importance in ourminds. If you think about it, it isthe aspect of creativity that reallysets our collections apart fromthose in other divisions of the Li­brary. The Manuscript Division,for example, has many collectionsthat are multi·format and unpub·Iished, but they are not in anymeaningful sense "created works."Typically, these collections fall intothe archivist's category of "per·sonal papers." A playwright, let'ssay, might leave to the Library hisor her aggregation of scripts, dia­ries, clippings, photo-scrapbooks,movie out-takes, etc. The life andwork of the playwright forms acommon theme through the wholehodgepodge, but bear in mindwhat brought the collection to­gether: a process of accumulation.

Ethnographic collections ofeven the most informal sort comeinto being through a different pro­cess. The fieldworker takes a pho­tograph of a musical instrument,makes a sound recording of it be·ing played, and jots down notes onthe recollections of a virtuosoplayer. He does so because he hasdetermined that photographs,sound recordings, and written textmust be yoked together to fullyrepresent the performance. Evenif there is no intent to publish thedocumentation, there is, in everyethnographic collection, a con­scious weaving together of differ­ent representational media toachieve a rounded statement.There is, in short, something thatlooks like authorship even thoughthere may be no publication.

7

Archivist Stephanie Hall examines recordings in the Paradise Valley (Nevada)Folklife Project Collection. The multi-format collection includes fieldnotes, audiocasselles (shown here in acid-free card file boxes), photographs, and othermaterials. Photo by James Hardin, 1994

Ihope what I have accom­plished so far is to set a stageon which to introduce thethree characters who rule the

way we disseminate the contentsof the Folk Archive. The first, andmosl obvious, of these charactersis the individual whose skills, rec­ollections, or artistry is daru·men ted in a particular ethno­graphic collection. Sometimes wefollow the anthropological con­vention and call such people "in­formants," For the present pur­pose of sorting out the kind ofrights such people might have inthe documentation that we hold,let's call them by the other termwe sometimes use: performers.

In the case of a given piece ofrecorded folk music, it is perfectlypossible (or the performer to bethe composer of the piece as well.However, within the realm of tra­ditional music. composers are fre­quently anonymous, and evenwhen they are known, it oftenseems as if social forces are moresignificant than individual ones inthe process of composition. Al­though we can never discount the

possibility that one of "our" per­formers may be entitled to the pro­tection of his or her creation-pro­tection that would be providedthrough statutory or common lawcopyright-our more usual con­cern is with the protection of per­formance rights.

The right that most readilycomes to mind in this connection isthat of performers to share profitsearned in the commercial repro­duction of their performance-roy­alties. I should pause here to makeclear that there really is no suchthing as a "public domain" perfor­mance. Artistic creatiolls (not per­formances) may fall in the publicdomain, but only after a period offormal copyright protection hasexpired. Of course, a performermay be unidentifiable, or untrace­able, or may simply elect to waivethe right to compensation, or maysettle for a token payment.

In fact, the latter happens fairlyoften in the course of our workbecause traditional performers of­ten recognize that a given publica­tion is more a matter of public ser·vice than of commerce. We in the

Folklife Center, however, are em­phatiC in our conviction that it isthe performer who must determineif there is to be remuneration andat what rate.

Here is how we guarantee thatright to the performers: Every userof the Folk Archive who wishes toorder a tape copy of any of thematerial we hold must sign a formbinding him or her to a set of con­ditions regarding the use of thecopied recording. If the intendeduse involves publication, then thecustomer must provide us with theoriginal copy of a letter from theperformer granting the Librarypermission to make the copy forthe customer.

We interpret "publication" verybroadly. For example, a recordingthat a National Public Radio sta·tion may wish to use in a syndi­cated broadcast is interpreted tobe a publication siinply becausethe affiliated stations will be mak­ing copies as they down-load itfrom satellite transmission for re­broadcast in their own program­ming schedule. Indeed I believewe should treat requests from otherarchival institutionsas if they wererequests for publication. Thegrounds being that once the mate­rial is out of our administrativecontrol, it could be published andso we ought to take the safestcourse and presume that it will be.

Our patrons cannot Wiggle offthe hook, as they often try to do, byproclaiming that the intended pub­lication is "non-profit." We insiston letters of permission for all pub­lished use, commercial and other­wise, because, in addition to royal­ties, performers are also entitled tocontrol the circumstances underwhich their performances are setinto public view. Several varietiesof rights cluster around this point.Rights of first release and licensingare legal terms that operate in thisarea, but as non-lawyers, we pre­fer to group these concerns underthe general notion of individuals'rights to privacy.

Privacy rights raise ques­tions of a sort that onemight not immediately an­ticipate. Living as we do in

a culture that is substantially or­ganized around financial concerns,weare often surprised to learn thatperformers are unwilling to have

8 Folklife Celller News

Dance archivist Michelle Forner processing photographsfrom the Fahnestock South Sea Collection, as part of herwork at the American Folklife Center lor the Dance HeritageCoalition. Photo by James Hardin, 1994

their music, storytelling, or what­ever disseminated because to doso would violate a personal or fam­ily concern. A song sung for ascholar-collectorhal f a ceotu ry agomay touch current sensitivities (orany of a number of reasons.

A singer may feel that the oldperformance has an amateur orold-fashioned quality not in keep­ing with his or her current style.Often a performer's religiousviews change with the passingdecades and with them maychange the way he feels about thesongs he sang in youth. No matterhow idiosnycratic the concern, theperformer has absolute authorityover the dissemination of anydocumentation of his or her per­formance that we hold in theArchive of Folk Culture. In caseswhere the performer is deceased,we turn to the next of kin andobtain their permission before werelease material that is to be pub­lished.

The privacy concerns of NativeAmerican performers require par­ticularly careful attention as muchof their music has a religious di­mension. An anecdotal examplewill illustrate how complex thesematters may be and also how wego about dealing with them: Re­cently The New Jersey Network(the state's educational, non-com­mercial TV channel) approachedus seeking a copy of two DelawareIndian songs recorded for theArchiveby Willard Rhodes in 1952.

The Network was in the pro­cess of developing history pro­grams both for broadcast and forsubsequent use in New Jerseyschools. One of the two desiredrecordings was a ceremonial BigHouse song. To clarify the propri­ety of using such material, ourethnomusicologist Judith Graycontacted a knowledgeable mem­ber of the Delaware Tribe. He re­sponded saying that although theBig House ritual was last con­ducted sometime in the 1920s, heknew a number of descendants ofBig House adherents and was surethat they would want the songs tobe presented in a fully developedcontext.

Judith relayed this informationto the New Jersey TV producer.The producer sympathized withthe Indian concern and said quitecandidly that he thought it un-

likely sufficient time could be al­lotted in his program to explainthe religious background of theBig House ceremony. Judith thenrecommended that the producerspeak directly with her Delawarecontact. She pointed out that thisperson had his own private collec­tion of Delaware social music~

music of a sort that would be in­herently less sensitive. The pro­ducer did communicate with themember of the tribe and called backlater to express his appreciationfor our collaborative, and ulti­mately efficient, approach to satis­fying his needs.

But how do we protect the in­terests of performers in caseswhere the request for their mate­rial does not contemplate publica­tion? Before I answer that, let mesay again: every user of the FolkArchive who wishes to order a tapecopy ofallY of thematerial we hold,must sign a form binding him or

her to a set ofconditions regard ingthe use of the copied recording.Patrons who indicate on this formthat the recorded copies are in­tended for their own private en­joyment or research may obtaincopies without consulting the per­former, provided, and this is im­portant, provided the performer hasnot had any sort of a professionalcareer connected with his perfor­mance.

Even oneor two songs recordedfor a defunct record companymany decades ago count, in oureyes, as evidence that the per­former had a commercial interestin his or her talent. In the case of aperformer with such a commercialbackground, however abbrevi­ated, all requests for copies aretreated as if they were intendedfor publication. We also monitorrequests for personal use copiesfor possible infringement of per­formers' privacy. Problems arise

Winter 1995 9

in this department less frequentlythan you might expect, but againNative American materials requirespecial vigilance.

SO much for performers. Thesecond character who hasan obvious interest in thedissemination of material

from the Folk Archive is, of course,the collector. The process of put­ting together an etfmographic col­lection is a creative act and, intheory, the rights of collectors alsomerit protection. Because theArchive of Folk Culture is a publicarchive (a point to be developedhereafter), welry to persuade thosewho donate collections to us to doso without reserving any rights intheir use.

Sometimes a potential donorwill say to us something like, "I'vefinished my fieldwork and I'd likethe Archive to have my documen­tation, but I'm writing a book aboutit and don't want anyone to scoopme with my own materiaL" Wewill reply, "Fine, we will take yourcollection and put a five-year re~

striction on it during which periodanyone who wants a copy mustobtain your permission."

A number of collections ac­quired in the past have had restric~

tions imposed for the life of thecollector. We honor these agree­ments, of course, and we may evenenter into them from time 10 timein the future. However, we havelearned that it makes referencework a lot easier if the collectorwill establish a fixed time periodafter which the restrictions expire.

The third player in the dramaof access to the Archive of FolkCulture is our employer, thepeople of the United States, all250 million of them. As you wouldexpect, having so many bosses putsa particular stamp on the way wedo business. It makes us very em­phatically a public archive. Whatthis means in practice is that oncewe have determined that aperformer's rights to privacy andto remuneration are secured, andonce we have determined that acollector's expressed restrictionsarc upheld, then we must do ev­erything possible to satisfy a re­quest for access to Archive mate~

rial.The way we state this position

in our communications with the

10

public is to say that "neither theFolklife Center nor the Library ofCongress maintains any propri­etary rights in the collections tnatwe hold." We say, further, that wedo not even maintain rights in thematerial that we publisn from ourcollections. Those rights residewith the people of the UnitedStates.

There are a number of ramifica·tions to the public character of ourArchive, some of them obvious,others less so. One implication isthat, as you might expect, collec·tions that have been created by thestaff of the Folklife Center, or thestaff of the Archive of Folk Songbefore it, cannot claim collector'srights. Those rights cannot be es­tablished because when we workas collectors, we are working forthe public.

Another less obvious wrinkle isthat if we in the Folklife Centerhave plans to publish a recordingor a photograph and we are ap­proached by a commercial pub­lisher who wants to issue the samematerial, wecannot legally orethi­cally refuse to release it (assum­ing, of course, that the publisherhas obtained all the appropriatepermissions). We might wince orgroan, or even beg and plead, butif the publisher insists, we must doour duty and release the material.

Nor is this the only context inwhich the fact of being a publicinstitution obliges us to accept mat­ters we might wish were other·wise. People are so accustomed tothe fiercely protective slance ofmost record publishing houses thatthey are often surprised to learnthat the Library of Congress can­not defend its recordings in thesame manner. Because we do notclaim proprietary rights in eitherour holdings or our publications,we lack legal means to challengepirated editions of our material.

Another index of the emphati­cally public nature of our work isour adherence to the principle thatanything in the Archive may beviewed or auditioned here on ourpremises. We have no closed collec­tions. One consequence of this open­ness is that the Archive of Folk Cul­ture is not a good repository for col­lections that contain sensitive mate­rial. When that sort of collection isoffered to us, we talk the issuethrough with the potential donor.

This is an interesting pointpartly because it nicely illustratesthe way one side of archival work,reference service, interrelates withanother, acquisition policy. It isalso interesting because, despiteour intentions, the Archive has ac·quired sensitive material. In somecases, the material was not consid­ered sensitive at the time it wasacquired. In other cases, we onlycame to understand the problem­atic nature of the material after itwas accepted.

The existence of sensitive mate·rial in the Archive poses a realdilemma: On the one hand we havethe principle that all our collec~

tions are open to any researcherwho comes to the Library; on theother we have the principle thatthe rights of performers and col­lectors must be protected. Fortu­nately, the collision of these prin­ciples does not occur very often,but when it does, there is only oneway it can be resolved. That isthrough the application of judge­ment and diplomacy by the FolklifeCenter staff.

This brings me to my finalpoint: the constitution thatwe follow in administeringour collection is more Hke

that of Great Britain than that ofthe United States. It is not a set ofarticulated procedures, althoughsomething like a set of procedurescan be found on pages 4 and 5 ofour publication A Guide to tlte Col­lections of Recorded Folk Music andFolklore ill tile Library ofCollgress. Itis instead a mix of documents (likethis one), people. and precedents.Appropriately enough for anarchive of folk culture, the forcethat most fully governs our publicservice is tradition.

And incidentally, it is a tradi­tion of which we are very proud. Ihave worked with the Archive ofFolk Culture for sixteen years andin that time I have not heard of asingle instance in which the rightsof a performer have been compro­mised. This is not to say that thecurrent access to the Folk Archivestrikes us as a subject of eternalsatisfaction. Like participants inany viable tradition, we remainopen to Ihe new ideas.

Folklife Cellter News

Parsons Fund for Ethnography at the Library of Congress

Molly Ramshaw; Corinne, Gerald Sr., and Gerry Parsons; Mary, James, and PeterHardin, at the home of Warren and Molly Aamshaw, Hamilton, New York, followinggraduation ceremonies at Colgate University, 1962. Parsons and Hardin (picturedhere with his mother and brother) were classmates at Colgate. Photo by WarrenRamshaw

By James Hardin

in December 1994, the Library ofCongress established "The GeraldE. and Corinne L. Parsons fund forEthno~aphy al the Library of Con~gress: The fund was opened with agift from American Folklife Centerreference librarian Gerald ParsonsJr. and will be augmented at a laterdate by funds from the Gerald E.Parsons Trust.

In accepting the initial gift for theParsons Fund, Librarian ofCongressJamesH. Billingtonsaid, "agiftfroma Library employee is perhaps thebest vote of confidence this institu·tion can have, and I thank you forcreating an example-with bothyour gift and the thoughtful way inwhich it was crafted-which othersmight follow in the future."

Gerry Parsons created the Par­sons Fund in order to make the "un­paralleled collections in the Archiveof Folk Culture" more accessible tothe American people, who, as par­ticipants in the great legacyofAmeri­can traditional culture, are their true"owners." The fund is in memory ofhis parents, who themselves wererooted in those traditions.

Gerry grew up in Wilmington,Delaware, where his father was anacoustical engineer at the HerculesPowder Company. His mother hadstudied to become a concert pia­nist and might have preferred herson to pursue musical interests inkeeping with her own. But Gerry'sinclinations took him back to hismother's father, Samuel Landis.

Landis was a cabinet makerfrom Cumberland, Maryland, whoplayed a guitar of his own con­struction in a mountain siringband. He also built violins and,like many lurn-of-the-centurystringed-instrument makers,claimed to have invented the flat­bottomed mandolin. One of SamLandis's regular performance ven­ues was the party boats on the OldChesapeake & Ohio canal.

Gerry's father was also born inCumberland. He was trained as acivil engineer at West Virginia Uni-

Willter 1995

versityand began his careerby build~

ing roads in West Virginia in the1920s. During that time, he heardmany songs and stories from theregion. Among these was a versionofiheworksong "l1tisOld HammerKilled John Henry," learned from ablack workman d riving a single-jackdrilJ while blasting a cut through theside of a mountain. It was one of thefirst songs ofany sort Gerry remem­bers hearing.

According to the letter ofgiftestablishing the ParsonsFund, the guiding purposeof the fund is to make the

colJections of primary ethnographicmaterials acquired and housed any­where in the Library of Congressavailable to the needs and uses ofthose in the private sector. The fundis to achieve that purpose throughgrants to individuals or organiza­tions in support of their specificprojects.

the fund is to be administered bythe professional staff of the Ameri­can Folklife Center, and this is thefirst time such a specification hasbeen made in a letter of gift to theLibrary. At the first meeting of thefund committee, January 23, JudithGray was elected chair for a one­year term.

No limit is to be imposed on therange of projects the fund may sup­port. They may, for example, leadto publication in media ofall types,both commercial and non-commer­cial; underwrite new works of art,music, or fiction; involve academicresearch; contribute to the theo­retical development of archivalscience; explore practical possibili­ties for processing the Library'sethnographic collections; developnew means of providing referenceservice; support student work; ex­periment with conservation tech­niques; support ethnographic fieldresearch leading to new Libraryacquisitions.

The Center has established aninitial fund-raising goal of$10,OOO.To date, more than $7,000 has beenreceived. Those wishing to con­tribute to the fund should makeschecks payable to the "Library ofCongress Trust Fund Board," with"Donation to Parsons Fund" writ­ten on the comment line on thebottom left of the check. Inquiriesand contribution checks should beaddressed to the Library of Con­gress, American Folklife Center,Washington, D.C. 20540-8100,Attn: Parsons Fund.

11

eachao, Mambo, and Descarga:A Latin Music Legend

Israel "Cachao" L6pez on the Neptune Plaza fora concert at the Library of Congress, September15, 1994. Concert photos by James Hardin

By Morton Marks

011 September 15, 1994, Cachaa alld/tis orcJlesfra playedaspecial COllcertat the LibraryofCollgress ill celebra­tioll of Hispanic Heritage MOl/til.The event was cosponsored by theAmerican Folk/ife Cenfer and theHispanic Division, ill partnersllipwith Crescent Moon/Epic Records.Mortoll Marks prepared the fol/orv­illg notes for the program.

Israel Lopez, el Gran eachao, hasplayed a pioneering role in thedevelopment of Cuban music foralmost sixty years. He was borninto a musical family in Havanain 1918. His older brother andsister were already musicians,and thirty-five of eachao's rela­tives played the bass, which be­came his instrument of choice. Aprolific composer, arranger, andinstrumentalist, Cachao is a vir­tuoso bassist who developed thepercussive and harmonic role ofthis instrument in Cuban dancemusic. By the time he was nine­teen, Cachao and his brotherOrestes had invented the mambo,which was first played over aCuban radio station in 1938. Themambo gave rise to a new way ofstructuring Cuban dance music, andits effects have been felt inside andoutsideofCuba down to the present.

Most North Americans probablyassociate mambo with the big bandsof the 1940s and 1950s, led byMachito, Tito Puente, and others inNew York, and by Damaso PerezPrado in Mexico City. These repre­sent the merging of Afro-Cuban songstyle and rhythmic approaches withthe riffs, instrumentation, andvoicings of North American swingbands.

But the mambo in Cuba has verydifferent origins. It emerged fromthe c/rurungu orchestras of flute,strings, piano, and percussion thatappeared at the very end of the nine·

12

teenth century, and from thedullZol/,a late.nineteenth-century Cubandance with roots in the courts andsa Ions ofeigh teenth-een tury Europe.The gradual transformation of thecontredanse into the Afro-Cubanmambo is a perfect illustration ofthe process of creolization orCubanization, the intermingling ofEuropean and African musical ap­proaches that accounts for the tre­mendous appeal of Cuban musicall over the world.

French dances such as the minuetand contredanse (which had enteredFranceas the English country-dance)were familiar to the Havana elite inthe late eighteenth century. Theycame again to Cuba, this time to theeastern cities of Guantanamo and

Santiago, with the French colo­nists who were fleeing the Hai­tian revolution of 1791. Thecontredanse became the CubancolllraduIIZa, then the dUIlZil orhabal/era, and then the dUl1wII. Asit becameCubanized, it changedin several ways: in its originalform a collective line or figuredance, often led by a baS/aI/era ordance master, it evolved into acouple dance.

Rhythmically, it was affectedby Afro-Caribbean features suchas thecil1qllillo, also known as thehabanera or tango rhythm. Struc­turally, it evolved into a rondoform, a multi-strained dancewilhcontrasting themes and instru­mentation. The final section of­ten showed more Afro-Cubaninfluences. By 1910, in Jose Urfe'scomposition "EI Bombin deBarreto," thedanzonended withinstrumental solos over amontullo, or repeated refrain, bor­rowed from the Cuban SOl/. Thismovement toward a more Afro­Cuban style is characteristic ofmany kinds ofCuban music, andthe multi-part dUl1wII lent itselfperfectly to this transitional fea­ture.

In 1937, Orestes and CachaoLopez were playing cello andbass for flautist Antonio Arcanoand his clzarallgu band Las

Maravillas, and were also respon­sible for arranging and composing agood part of the band's repertoire.Once, when Arcano'ssongbook wasstolen, the Lopez brothers had tocome up with a new one quickly,and they composed almost thirtydallumes a week. Between the two ofthem, Cachao estimates that theycomposed a total of three thousanddUllzones.

By the late 1930s, the Afro­Cubanizing of the dUIIZOli and theclrarallga orchestra that played it wascompleted. The mambo seems to

Folklife Center News

have originated as a series of 5ynco~pated guajeos (or riffs) on Cachao'sbass, which became the basis for thethird or m0l11l1110 section of a tradi­tional dal/zoll. This part was firstcalled dQllxoll de Iluevo rilmo, andlater dal/z6n mambo. In 1938Orestes L6pez composed a tunecalled "Mambo." In later record­ings, it would go directly from abrief introduction to the final sec­tion, what Arcana called "Iasabrosl/ra" or the "funky" part,doing away entirely with themiddle section and the repeats.

By 1939, with the addition of aconga drum to the c/wranga en­semble, the Afro-Cuban structure ofthe mambo had solidified. The congawas borrowed from the CDlljlllltoen­semble (brass, tres, and percussion)Jed by Arsenio Rodriguez, who hadcreated the modern Afro-Cubansound for the cOl/jul/to by layeringostinato patterns and buildingelabo­rate arrangements around the clave,the backbone ofCuban dance music.Arcanoand the Lopez brothers trans­formed the cllarallga orchestra in asimilar way.

In the final mambo section,Cachao's bass interlocks with theconga's tUlI/bao or ostinato as an­chor, over which the violins playedtheir repeated guajeos. On top werethe floreos or improvisations ofArcana's flute. Another innovationwas the cowbell added to the till/­bales set, now a standard feature inLatin music. By the early forties, theflowing rhythm and syncopationsof the new sound were a tremen­dous hit with dancers. The Arcanaband had energized the cltarallgasound and reunited thedam.oll withthe dancing public.

In 1957 Cachao rounded up thebest musicians from the Havanaclubs and produced a series of after­hours recordings that have becometextbooks for Latin musicians. Theseare the descargas, or Cuban jam ses­sions, that opened up the highlystructured formatofCuban music tosolos and improvisation. They fea­tured legendary musicians like TataGoines on conga, Barretico on tim­bales, and Richard Egi.ies on flute.Because the musicians played in dif­ferent kinds of orchestras (COlljllllfo,c1larall8a, jazz band), the descargasoften featured novel instrumentaJcombinations and pointed the wayto later developments in Latin mu­sic.

Whiter 1995

Nelson Gonzales, on Ires.

Cachao left Cuba in 1962and soon established him­self as an important fig­ureon the New Yorksalsa

scene. In 1966, he was a guest ofhonorat a series ofall-star aescargasheld at New York's Village Gate,where he was featured in an elec­trifying "jam" with bass solos.These sessions came at the dawnof Latin New York's salsa explo­sion, largely based on Cuban mu­sical forms. It is only fitting thatCachaa should have been presentat the launching in another milieuof the music he bad done so muchto create and that is now reachinga much wider audience.

Long thought of asa "musician'smusician" and revered by Latinmusic fans, in the last two yearsCachaohas becomeknown toa muchlarger audience, and he has finallybegun to receive wide public accep­tance and acclaim. Actor AndyGarda has played an important rolein this breakthrough, hosting amemorable concert ("Cachao,Mambo & Descarga") in Miami in1992. He also produced the feature­length documentary/concert film,Cac!/(/o: Como Sl/ Ritmo No Hay Dos(Cachao: Like His Rhythm There IsNo Other) released on Epic HomeVideo. Garda was also involved inthe production of Master SessionsVolume 1, the first of a series of CDson Crescent Moon/Epic Records.

Jimmy Bosch, on trombone.

Bibliography

Galan, Natalia. Cltba y SitS Sones.Valencia, Spain: Pre-textoslMusica, 1983.

Gerard, Charley, with MartySheller.Salsa!: Tile Rhythm of Latin Music.Crown Point, Indiana: WhiteCliffs Media Co., 1989.

Leon, Argeliers. DelCanto yelTiempo.La Habana, Cuba: Editorial LetrasCubanas, 1984.

Salazar, Max. "EI Gran Cachao," inLatil/ Beat Magazine, vol. 1, no. 4(April 1991).

Santos, John. Notes to The CubanDanzoll, Its Ancestors and Descen­dants. Smithsonian Folkways.

Szwed, John, and Morton Marks."The Afro-American Transfor­mation of European Set Dancesand Dance Suites." In Dance Re­search JOl/rnal (summer 1988).

Tamargo, Luis. "Cachao: Like HisRhythm There Is Not Other."Latill Beat Magazine, vol. 3, no. 10(December/January 1994).

Mortoll Marks is rll/ etllllol/ll/sicologistwho lives ill Brooklyll, New York. Heholds a PhD in allfllropo[oSiJ from theU'1iversity of California, Berkeley. Dr.Marks has produced two collections ofCuban music for ROIII/der Records andis workillg 01/ a project called "LatinNew York, /I also for ROlll/der.

13

American Folklife Center Publications in Print

l. FREE PUBLICATIONS

Single copies of publications listed below are freefrom the Library of Congress, American FolklifeCenter, Washington, D.C. 20540-8100. There is apostage charge for multiple copies. An invoice willbe included with the shipment. For information,call 202 707-6590.

AMERICAN FOLK ARCHITECTURE, A SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHY, by Howard Wright Marshall(1981 ).

AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC ANO FOLKLORE RE­CORDINGS: A SELECTED LIST, edited by JenniferCutting. Annua11984 ~ 1992. Specify year(s).

BLUE RIDGE HARVEST, A REGION'S FOLKLIFEIN PHOTOGRAPHS, edited by Lyntha Scott Eiler,Terry Eiler, and Carl Fleischhauer (1981).

ETHNIC FOLKLIFE DISSERTATIONS FROM THEUNITED STATES AND CANADA, 1960 - 1980: ASELECTED, ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, byCatherine Kerst (1986).

FEDERAL CYLINDER PROJECT, A GUIDE TOFIELD CYLINDER COLLECTIONS IN FEDERALAGENCIES. Volumes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8.

FOLKLIFE CENTER NEWS, edited by JamesHardin. Quarterly. Some back issues available.Specify issue number and date, or subscription.

FOLKLIFE RESOURCES IN THE LIBRARY OFCONGRESS. Compiled by Timothy Lloyd andHillary Glatt (revised 1994).

FOLK LIFE AND FIELDWORK, by Peter Bartis (re­vised 1990).

FOLK RECORDINGS, SELECTED FROM THEARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE. Catalog and orderform for recordings available from the Library ofCongress.

AN INVENTORY OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHIESANDOTHER REFERENCE AND FINDING AIDS PRE­PARED BY THE ARCHIVE OF FOLK CULTURE(revised 1994).

A TEACHER'SGUIDE TO FOLKLIFE RESOURCESFOR K-12 CLASSROOMS, by Peter Bartis and PaddyBowman (1994).

14

II. PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE

Publications listed below are for sale by the Lj.brary of Congress, American Folklife Center, Wash­ington, D.C. 20540-8100. Please make checks pay­able to the American Folklife Center. For informa­tion, call 202 707-6590.

Add shipping charges: Orders totaling up to $10,add $2. Orders $10.01 to $25, add 3.50. Orders over$25, add $5.

GROUSE CREEK CULTURAL SURVEY, INTE­GRATING FOLKLIFE AND HISTORIC PRESER­VATION FIELD RESEARCH, by Thomas Carterand Carl Fleischhauer (1988) $9.

ONE SPACE. MANY PLACES, FOLKLIFE ANDLAND USE IN NEW JERSEY'S PINELANDS NA­TIONAL RESERVE, by Ma<y Huffocd (1986)$15.95.

PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN FRAKTUR, A GUIDETO THE COLLECTIONS IN THE LIBRARY OFCONGRESS, by Paul Conner and Jill Roberts (1988)$9.95.

QUILT COLLECTIONS, A DIRECTORY FOR THEUNITED STATES AND CANADA, compiled byLisa Turner Oshins (1987). Softcover edition $18.98;hardcover edition $24.95.

.. ......Publications with special mailing rates:

AMERICAN FOLKLlFE, A COMMONWEALTH OFCULTURES, by Mary Hufford (1991). Full-color,illustrated, 20-page booklet with definition andhistory of folklife study. First 25 copies, $2 percopy; thereafter, $1 per copy (thus, 30 copies wouldcost $55). Price includes postage and handling.

OLD TIES, NEW ATTACHMENTS, ITALlAN­AMERICAN FOLK LIFE IN THE WEST, ed;'ed byDavid A. Taylor and John Alexander Williams(1992). Hardcover, 224 pages, with 197 black-and­white illustrations. $29.95 plus $2 (book rate) or$4.50 (first class) per book for postage and han­dling.

THE NINETY-SIX: A CATTLE RANCH IN NORTH­ERN NEV ADA, edited by Carl Fleischhauer (1985).Two-sided videodisc, with accompanying booklet.$150, including postage and handling. The bookletis available separately for $20, plus $2 for postageand handling.

Folklile Center News

III. PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE BY THE SUPER·INTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS

The following publications are for sale by the Su­perintendent of Documents (U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office), P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, Penn­sylvania 15250-7954. Price includes domestic post­age and handling. Specify title and stock number.Make checks payable to the SuperintendentofDocu­ments.

DOCUMENTING MARITIME FOLKLlFE, AN IN­TRODUCTORY GUIDE, by David A. Taylor (1992).Illustrated, softcover, 93 pages (51 N 030-000-00236­9) $7.50.

FOLKLIFE ANNUAL 90, edited by James Hardin(1991). Illustrated, hardcover, 176 pages (51 N 030­000-00230-0) $19.

FOLKLIFE SOURCEBOOK, A DIRECTORY OFFOLKLIFE RESOURCES IN THE UNITED STATES,by Peter Bartis and Hillary Glatt. Softcover, 165pages (SIN 030-001-00152-1) $11.

IV. PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE BY OTHER PUB­LISHERS

CONSERVING CULTURE, A NEW DISCOURSEON HERITAGE, edited by Mary Hufford (1994).Cloth edition (O-252-02060-X) $37.50; paper edition(0·252~06354-6)$14.95 (Maryland residents add 5percent sales tax; Canadian customers please add 7percent CST). Available from the University ofIllinois Press, P.O. Box 4856, Hampden Post Office,Baltimore, MD 21211. Postage and handling: Do~

mestic and Canada, $3 first book; $.50 each addi~

tionaL Foreign, $4 first book; $1 each additionaLFor information, call 1~800~545~4703 (U.s. only);Maryland and Canada, 410-516-6969.

MUSIC FROM THE RAINFORESTS OF SOUTHAMERICAN & THE CARIBBEAN, produced byMickey Hart and Alan Jabbour (1993) Rykodisc10250 CD/CS. Available in music stores, or ordertoll free from 800·2-EARFUL.

MUSIC FORTHE GODS, THE FAHNESTOCK SOUTHSEA EXPEDITION: INDONESIA, produced by MickeyHart and Alan Jabbour (1994) Rykodisc 10315 COles. Available in music stores, or order toll free from800-2-EARFUL.

EDITOR'S NOTES from page 2

was the sixties, remember). At afolklife festival, he met Chuck andNan Purdue, folklorists who nowteach at the University of Virginia.The Purdues encouraged Gerry tostudy folklore, and he eventuallyenrolled in programs in the StateUniversity of New York, atCooperstown, and at the Universityof Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.

Joe Hickerson invited Gerry tojoin the staff of the Achive of Folk

Wi"ter 1995

Culture in 1974 (bringing the num~ber to three), and Gerry settled intoa long career as reference librarian.For more than twenty years, he hasserved as advisor, guide, teacher,gadfly, conscience, and friend, forthe staff of the Archive and theFolklife Center and for the manyothers who have found their way tothe Library and thecollections of theFolk Archive, in person, or by phoneor letter. For the past several years,Gerry has been undergoing treat~

ment for cancer, and he has been on

extended sick leave. At the Ameri­can Folklife Center, we miss him asa professional colleague, we misshim as a friend, and we hope andpray for his recovery.

Equipment Correction

The tape-recorder pictured onpages 3 and 4 in FOlk/ifeCenter Ne:ws,Fall 1994, is a Marantz.

15

Cachao and his orchestra on the Neptune Plaza of the library of Congress for a concert, September 15, 1994. An articleabout the Latin music legend and father of the mambo appears on page 12. Photo by James Hardin

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