Folklife Friday is a weekly digest of arts and culture articles, podcasts, and videos from across the web. Read on for a selection of the week’s best cultural heritage pieces, and don’t forget to check back next Friday for a new set of weekly picks.
Once The Stuff Of Jazz Legend, 1930s Recordings Are Finally Out
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem this week released the legendary Savory Collection, a body of nearly 1,000 jazz recordings dating back to the 1930s. The recordings, collected from New York City clubs and ballrooms, capture full-length performances, all with a unique, authentic sound—a sound that Loren Schoenberg, founding director of the museum and overseer of the release, contrasts with conservative studio recordings. With the release, Schoenberg hopes “people will hear something beyond the music.”
Have You Tried This Neon-Colored Colombian Soda?
As the saying goes in Cartagena, Colombia, “All a man needs are pan y Kola Román.” Kola Román, a vanilla-flavored soda found across the Caribbean city, has its roots in European carbonated beverages. As Allie West writes in Saveur, the drink is often cooked into plantain-based dishes or added to a platter of sticky, salty-sweet platanos.
I Went to My First Classical Music Concert. It Was in My Living Room.
“All you need is four chairs,” says Sam Bodkin, the founder of Groupmuse, a classical music house-party service that supplies hosts with musicians in an effort to democratize the genre. With each attendee chipping in $10 to compensate the musicians, the concept is a hit with younger generations, especially those put off by the “highbrow cultural bubbles” and unwelcoming atmosphere of classical concert venues.
Finding America: Iñupiaq Inside
For Cordelia Kellie, who grew up in a predominantly non-Native community, moving at age twenty-one to her mother’s hometown of Wainwright, Alaska, was a study in linguistics and identity. Taktuksiun, the Iñupiaq word for compass, loosely translates to “fog instrument,” as Kellie explains. Learning the subtleties of the Native language helped her navigate the fog of her own identity and teach the town’s youth to follow suit.
Ever Been Judged Because of Your Accent?
In this episode of Inside Appalachia, guests explore the ins and outs of Appalachian dialects and what judgment about them reveals about deep-seated classism, racism, or both. Amy Clark, co-chair of the Center for Appalachian Studies at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and co-editor of a new book Talking Appalachian, examines the dialects’ roots in Scotland and Ireland and shares how she learned to embrace her voice.
Special thanks to Rori Smith, Fred Knittel, and Sojin Kim for their contributions to this week’s digest.
Photo by Sarah Rudolph
