Smithsonian Folkways

Today we’re sharing “The Three Jimmies” from ‘Orcas’ Greatest Hits,’ Jim Nollman’s first album on Smithsonian Folkways since the 1982 classic ‘Playing Music with Animals.’ In this second preview of the new album, “Jimmy” Nollman introduces the orcas to the signature “chicken scratch” riffs of James Brown’s guitarist Jimmy Nolen.

A lifelong innovator in the practice of interspecies communication, Nollman recorded “The Three Jimmies” in 1988 at a cove along British Columbia’s Johnstone Strait, where he established an artistic residency and community space called “Orcananda.” There, he and his collaborators built a mobile recording studio inside an anchored fishing vessel, which allowed the orcas to approach and interact with the music when interested. As Nollman recalls, when the whales did draw close, they almost always vocalized.

“Their responses often suggested that they were not simply listening to our music, but joining in with it, interacting with our phrasing, harmonies, and rhythms,” he writes in the album’s liner notes, describing these interactions vividly. “Most nights the whales would eventually arrive. From far away, their whistles resounded through the speakers like a pod of bee-bop saxophones. Certain calls rose high above this fray, slithering, soaring, dive-bombing as if Jimi Hendrix himself had been reincarnated as ‘Orcinus orca.’ Other calls folded in upon themselves like a flower closing its petals.”

‘Orcas’ Greatest Hits,’ out August 14 on CD, LP, and digitally, collects hydrophone recordings drawn from over sixty hours of interspecies collaboration between humans and orcas, made between 1985 and 2002. Listen to “The Three Jimmies” now: https://youtu.be/6y2bpheZaZw?si=bDdXS...

Preorder the album and build your own ‘Orcas’ Greatest Hits’ merch bundle here: folkways.si.edu/jim-nollman/orcas-greatest-hits

📸 “Orca from Below” by Jim Nollman. Jim Nollman playing guitar with orcas from the bow of a boat / Photo by Jim O’Donnell.

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5 days ago | [YT] | 8

Smithsonian Folkways

Announcing ‘Orcas’ Greatest Hits,’ a new album of interspecies collaboration between humans and orca whales by Jim Nollman, out August 14 on CD, LP, and digital formats.

Jim Nollman is a sound artist, naturalist, and author who has dedicated his practice to playing music with non-human individuals. Following his 1982 album on Folkways, ‘Playing Music with Animals,’ Nollman established an artistic residency and community space at a cove in British Columbia, dubbed Orcananda after the orca residents that have dwelled in its deep waters for centuries. Nollman and his cohort took a considered approach to developing sonic relationships with the orcas and other animals they encountered, always keeping a respectful distance as they found one another with their ears.

‘Orcas’ Greatest Hits’ collects hydrophone recordings drawn from over 60 hours of interspecies collaboration recorded between 1985 and 2002, showing the playful ways in which Nollman engaged the orcas from the portable studio floating above their home. What we hear is the focused listening by the cetaceans and humans as they search out sonic space among one another, finding in that dialogue potential common ground for deeper understanding. Extensive liner notes by Nollman accompany the release.

Today you can stream “The 47 Whale Raga,” featuring Nollman improvising on electric guitar around the Hindustani classical raga “Jhinjhoti” and capturing the attention of three orca pods. As MAGNET Magazine writes in its premiere of the track, the result is “a stunning exchange that blurs the line between composition and communication.”

Listen & Preorder:
https://youtu.be/1OKusBfV1I8?si=G8Uxi...
orcd.co/jim-nollman

Alongside the release, new merchandise is now available for preorder, including tote bags, T-shirts, and bumper stickers inspired by ‘Orcas’ Greatest Hits’ and Nollman’s decades-long exploration of interspecies music: folkways.si.edu/news-and-press/jim-nollman-shares-…

📸 Cover design by Visual Dialogue/Photo by Jim O’Donnell. Photos of Orcananda by Sandra Wilson. Merch designs by Darryl Norsen. “Orca Pod” artwork by Jim Nollman. Photo of Jim Nollman by David Rothenberg.

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3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

Smithsonian Folkways

On June 12, the album ‘Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings’ will be reissued on vinyl for the first time as a double LP.

This 26-track compilation, first released in 2003 as part of the Smithsonian Folkways Classic CD series, spans half a century and features Delta, St. Louis, Southwest, Piedmont, and Chicago styles performed by revered musicians Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Elizabeth Cotten, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee, among other foundational blues figures.

Produced by musician and scholar Dr. Barry Lee Pearson, the album also serves as a pathway into Smithsonian Folkways’ vast catalog of blues recordings and traces how Folkways Records became a hub for blues music in the mid-20th century. The vinyl reissue comes with Pearson’s original liner notes, which chronicle the history behind each song and artist.

Preorder your copy today: orcd.co/classic-blues

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2 months ago | [YT] | 38

Smithsonian Folkways

Today Joy Harjo shares “My Guy,” a jazz-inflected love song featuring Harjo on alto sax, vocals by esperanza spalding, and Matthew Stevens on guitar, as the second single from her upcoming album ‘Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace.’

Written by Harjo’s mother in the 1950s or ’60s and recently uncovered by Harjo’s sister, “My Guy” honors both familial history and the album’s broader themes of inheritance and artistic continuity. “The initial inspiration for me to put music and poetry together was my mother, who wrote songs on her Underwood typewriter, which had its home on the kitchen table,” Harjo reflects in the album’s liner notes.

“She carried a gift that she never fulfilled because she had to raise four children, essentially alone. My mother would be so honored and thrilled to hear how esperanza makes vocal art of her songwriting art. What a pairing!”

Throughout ‘Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace,’ sound itself becomes a guide, insisting that art is not an escape from hard times, but a way through them. “Because of what keeps us up at night,” Harjo writes, “the bad dreams, the good ones, the tenderness, the beauty, the sweetest love, the heartache, the struggle: this album.”

Listen to the new track and preorder the album, arriving April 24 on CD, LP, and digital formats: https://youtu.be/wsqInE78dq0?si

📸 Cover art painting by Joy Harjo / Original typewritten lyrics / Photo by Melissa Lukenbaugh

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3 months ago | [YT] | 14

Smithsonian Folkways

Today Kronos Quartet shares their recording of the gospel masterwork “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away,” the third single from their upcoming album ‘Glorious Mahalia,’ a tribute to the life and legacy of gospel singer and civil rights activist Mahalia Jackson.

“While researching the work of Mahalia Jackson, I was inspired by a late 1930s recording of Mahalia singing Antonio Haskell’s ‘God Shall Wipe All Tears Away,’ which featured the sound of the organ, a vintage sound that I loved and wanted to bring into Kronos concerts,” writes David Harrington, Kronos Quartet founder and violinist.

Originally composed by Antonio Haskell in 1935 and recorded by Jackson in 1937, the song is based on Revelation 21:4 in the King James Bible: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

In this new interpretation, Kronos reimagines the piece through an arrangement by multi-instrumentalist and composer Jacob Garchik, guided by Jackson’s powerful recording. “It became like a score, really,” Harrington says. “Hank [Dutt] in particular studied Mahalia’s vocal vocabulary. The biggest challenge was getting the emotional message of the voice.”

‘Glorious Mahalia’ arrives next Friday, April 3. You can listen to “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away” here: https://youtu.be/Sk-t6YEwwmI?si

📸 Mahalia Jackson during a photo shoot at her home in 1960. Photo by William Lanier. Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

3 months ago | [YT] | 12

Smithsonian Folkways

For this month’s edition of our People’s Picks playlist series, SistaStrings take the reins, sharing a hand-selected mix of tracks from the Smithsonian Folkways catalog that brings together classical compositions by Beethoven and Brahms alongside recordings by Big Mama Thornton, Our Native Daughters, and Dom Flemons.

SistaStrings, the dynamic musical duo composed of violinist Chauntee Ross and cellist Monique Ross, have redefined what string instruments can do on a modern stage. Named Americana Music Association’s 2023 Instrumentalists of the Year, they have performed everywhere from Saturday Night Live to the Super Bowl and are currently recording their debut album, produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings.

The playlist is now available to stream on Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify, YouTube, and Pandora, and is accompanied on our website by Chauntee and Monique’s personal reflections on their musical experiences and track choices.

Read and listen here: folkways.si.edu/playlist/peoples-picks-sistastring…

4 months ago | [YT] | 10

Smithsonian Folkways

Announcing ‘Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace,’ a new album from musician, activist, and former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, out April 24 on CD, LP, and digital formats. Today you can hear the title track, which opens the album in a suspended, otherworldly space.

On ‘Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace,’ Harjo treads the fertile ground at the intersection of jazz and poetry, leaning into the improvisational aspects of both while incorporating other sonic touchstones from throughout her life: prog rock, grunge, and, crucially, the traditional music of Native communities throughout the Southwest. At once playful, confrontational, and devotional, the album arrives shaped by collective upheaval, ancestral memory, and the enduring power of art to bear witness and create change. The album was produced by composer, bassist and vocalist esperanza spalding, and features guitarist Matthew Stevens and drummer Justin Tyson.

“This musical project has found its footing during a time of thick-layered turmoil throughout our communities,’” Harjo writes in the extensive liner notes. Reflecting on what we can show future generations when they look back to see how we responded when confronted with injustice, Harjo remarks: “They will look to our arts.” In this way, “this album is an offering.”

Listen to the first single and preorder ‘Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace,’ which also features Harjo’s first original painting in years in its packaging and cover art, here: orcd.co/joy-harjo

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4 months ago | [YT] | 14

Smithsonian Folkways

Today Kronos Quartet shares “Peace Be Till: IV. Symphony of Social Justice,” the second single off their upcoming album ‘Glorious Mahalia.’

“‘Peace Be Till’ is about the legacy of America’s civil rights movement, the important role artists play in critical social justice movements, and the necessary dreams today,” writes composer Zachary James Watkins. This fourth movement of his composition “Peace Be Till” features Kronos Quartet performing alongside a newly recorded conversation with Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speechwriter, lawyer, and friend.

In the recording, Jones reads from his copy of King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which he calls a “symphony of social justice.” As King’s lawyer, it was Jones who took the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” out of King’s jail cell in April 1963 to help get it published.

‘Glorious Mahalia’ pays tribute to the life and legacy of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, highlighting the close friendships among Jackson, King, and Jones and celebrating their prominent roles in the civil rights movement.

Preorder the album, arriving April 3 on CD, LP, and digital formats, and listen to the new track here: https://youtu.be/TAdIFIwepvs

📸 Credits

Mahalia Jackson performing during the March on Washington, August 1963. Photo by Norman L. Hunter. Johnson Publishing Company Archive, Courtesy J. Paul Getty Trust and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Clarence B. Jones. Photo by Paul G. Ryan.

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5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 18

Smithsonian Folkways

For this month’s edition of our People’s Picks series, North Carolina folk singer-songwriter Anjimile curates a beautiful playlist celebrating the varied musical traditions of Malawi.

“Finding these recordings of Malawian music in the Smithsonian Folkways library was exciting and emotional, to say the least,” he shares. “I’ve included music from a variety of ethnic groups in Malawi—namely the Yao, Chewa, Tonga, Henga, and Tumbuka peoples, in order to include the most varied musical traditions that distinguish the indigenous cultural groups that make up Malawi... I was reminded that I am proud to be a Malawian musician.”

Anjimile has forged a distinctive musical path characterized by unflinching introspection and deep honesty, captivating audiences with earnest songwriting, delicate sonic textures, and performances that feel like prayer and celebration. His latest album, ‘You’re Free to Go,’ is out in March on 4AD.

Read more and listen to Anjimile’s picks: folkways.si.edu/playlist/peoples-picks-anjimile

5 months ago | [YT] | 6

Smithsonian Folkways

Brooklyn-based sound artist and multi-instrumentalist more eaze kicks off this year’s People’s Picks series with a playlist rooted in the memories and sonic connections she traces through the Folkways archive.

“This playlist ends and begins with songs by Flaco Jiménez—a name and a figure who is ubiquitous within my hometown of San Antonio. I grew up hearing Flaco’s music all around me, and it’s something that I wish I’d actively engaged with more as a teenager and seen as the extraordinary gift it is. Nowadays, I deeply love this music and it instantly transports me to certain places and times in my life in Texas. As I worked on this playlist, I thought about how I was engaging with Folkways records growing up in a city that’s so synonymous with Flaco’s presence and connections. Most of the music I included is deeply tied to specific memories that I connect to the disparate and vast Folkways archive.

In a way, this playlist is a sort of personal reckoning with history, memory, influence, and taste in a manner similar to how I often compose and conceptualize my work as more eaze. A few memories I associate with this music: Stumbling into an Anna and Elizabeth show at Secret Project Robot in 2018 on an off day on tour and being profoundly moved by their music; developing an intense obsession with ‘Whoa, Back, Buck’ by Lead Belly in high school because the ‘Take This Hammer’ compilation was the only CD of his I could find for sale anywhere in San Antonio; having my mind blown in college by the forward-thinking music of Todd Dockstader and Jon Appleton; Craig Kupka’s ‘Trombones of Lithia’ making a mind-numbing office job feel less painful; Mary Lou Williams’s ‘Black Christ of the Andes’ emotionally wrecking me on a flight back from a long European tour; the lyrics to Lucinda Williams’s ‘Howlin’ at Midnight’ hitting me so hard when I first moved to New York City with just a few gigs; and most recently, marveling at The Freeborne’s DIY innovation while taking my dog on a long walk through the city at night.

I hope that this music conjures up listeners’ own memories and associations and makes people think about how all this work exists under the umbrella of Folkways and America in general.”

—Mari Maurice

🔊 Listen now on your preferred platform: folkways.si.edu/playlist/peoples-picks-more-eaze

Graphic by Darryl Norsen / Photo by Laura Brunisholz

6 months ago | [YT] | 7