the EAR 2.0

The UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive has been awarded a preservation implementation grant by the Grammy Foundation®, according to the Foundation’s April 16th, 2009, press release. The Archive’s proposal was selected for funding from among many submissions because of the importance of the material to be preserved, the technical qualifications of the project staff, and the leading role played by the UCLA Digital Library in providing secure digital storage and online access to some of the Archives collections.  This prestigious award will be used to preserve and create access to part of the D.K. Wilgus Collection that documents the music and aural Folklife of the western United States with a focus on California.  Contents include field recordings from California, rural Oklahoma, and Texas; interviews of noted folklorists, musicians, and storytellers; workshops, and lectures.   Information on materials from this collection that have already been processed on a previous Grammy Foundation® award is available at www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/archive.  This includes parts of the D.K. Wilgus Archive of California and Western Folklore, the D. K. Wilgus Western Kentucky Folklore Archive, the UCLA Folk Festival, field recordings by David Evans, and several smaller collections.  Many of these recordings are being made available through the UCLA Digital Library.

See the GRAMMY Foundation press release and a complete list of recipients:
http://content.grammy.com/PressReleases/582_640_2009grantspr.pdf

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April 16th, 2009 | Tags: California, D.K. Wilgus, folklore, GRAMMYs, grants, preservation | Category: Archive Announcements, Collections | Leave a comment

Chances are, if you’re not a record collector or follower of certain “niche” bands, you may not have heard the news: vinyl is back.

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April 14th, 2009 | Tags: intangible cultural heritage, LPs, music industry, sound recordings, vinyl | Category: Archives-Related Info | Leave a comment

Title: Third World Child
Published/distributed: Hollywood, CA: Capitol Records, © 1987
Publisher number: CLT-46778
Performer: Johnny Clegg & Savuka
Archive Call Number: ARLP 5261

Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of selected reviews written by students in the course series Ethnomusicology 20A-B-C: Musical Cultures of the World.

Third World Child is Johnny Clegg and Savuka’s first album, the album that won Johnny Clegg international acclaim.  More »

April 1st, 2009 | Category: Recording Reviews | Comments (1)

A message from Professor Judy Mitoma at UCLA’s Center for Intercultural Performance:

Three week program June 28-July 19, 2009
Application Available at www.cudamani.org Register Early. Enrollment Limited!
Artistic Team: I Dewa Putu Berata & Emiko Saraswati Susilo

Intensive study of balinese music and dance with 6 master artists and a team of 12 assisting teachers using pedagogy developed collaboratively by Ibu Ni Ketut Alit Arini, Bapak I Nyoman Cerita and Çudamani; lectures and demonstrations by internationally renowned scholars and artists; observation of rehearsals, ‘backstage’ preparation and performances; visits to sacred sites and ceremonies. Participants engage with Pengosekan’s community of artists, well known as weavers, painters, dancers and musicians.With the success of the 2007 and 2008 summer programs, Çudamani will once again invite 35 individuals from around the world to participate in a rigorous study of Balinese music and dance in the village of Pengosekan, Ubud, Bali. Çudamani has provided gamelan and dance instruction to hundreds of youth and adults over the past eleven years. The company’s technical accomplishments on the seven-toned Semarandana are unparalleled. FEES Includes: Instruction, Shared Housing, Breakfast, Lunch & Excursions.  The program is suitable for experienced musicians and dancers as well as beginners. CONTACT: UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance. cip@arts.ucla.edu  T: 310-206-1335 .

Promotional Photo: Çudamani Music & Dance Summer Institute, Bali

February 13th, 2009 | Tags: Bali, dance, music, workshops | Category: Archive Announcements, Events | Comments Off

Jesús Guzmán, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology lecturer who directs the UCLA mariachi ensemble and is musical director of Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, won the Grammy for BEST REGIONAL MEXICAN ALBUM for “Amor, Dolor Y Lágrimas: Música Ranchera,” Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano.

Congratulations to Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano.  For anyone who would like to listen to the CD, please come to the Archive and ask for ARCD 6856.

February 11th, 2009 | Tags: awards, mariachi, UCLA Ethnomusicology Department | Category: Archive Announcements, Collections | Leave a comment

ANNOUNCEMENT

Archive Access Hours for the Week of 16-20 February

The Archive will be CLOSED on Monday February 16th for the Presidents’ Day holiday.

We will not have regular access hours from Tuesday the 17th through Thursday the 19th. If you wish to use the Archive during this time, please fill out an Appointment Request Form.

Regular access hours will resume on Friday February 20th, when the Archive will be open from 10 am - 2 PM.

February 11th, 2009 | Category: Archive Announcements | Comments Off

This just in from the Department of Ethnomusicology Faculty News:

Cheryl Keyes was nominated for an NAACP Image Award under the category of “world music” for her debut CD, “Let Me Take You There.” The 40th NAACP Image Awards airs live on February 12, 2009 on FOX.

The CD and Professor Keyes were recently the subjects of our inaugural EARcast and an extended recording review (with audio examples!) by a fellow scholar of African-American music, Dr. Miles White.  A copy of the album is available in the Archive, ARCD 7175.

Congratulations, Dr. Keyes!

See more information and a full list of nominees [PDF] at the 40th NAACP Image Awards site.

January 8th, 2009 | Tags: awards, flute, jazz, UCLA Ethnomusicology Department | Category: Archive Announcements | Leave a comment

Today we launch the very first EARcast, part of an occasional series of podcasts and webcasts that are a feature of the new EAR 2.0!  If you’re interested in being part of a future EARcast, please contact us.

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December 12th, 2008 | Tags: interviews, jazz, UCLA Ethnomusicology Department | Category: the EARcast | Comments (1)

Let Me Take You There
Published/distributed: Los Angeles: Keycan Records, © 2008
Publisher number: 88450104256
Performer: Cheryl Keyes
Archive Call Number: ARCD 7175

SEE ALSO EARcast no. 1: An Interview with Cheryl Keyes

In 1975, Smokey Robinson released an elegiac album and song entitled “A Quiet Storm” that became the basis for a new radio format by that name and which in turn influenced the development of a number of later styles of African American music such as smooth jazz and neo-soul. Targeted to a largely black, urban and adult audience, Quiet Storm music tends towards lush orchestrations, slower tempos, intimate themes, and impassioned yet restrained performances from instrumentalists and vocal stylists who draw from rhythm and blues, gospel, soul and jazz. Typically programmed in late-night time slots, these formats still thrive at a number of local and college-oriented radio stations in urban pockets across the country. The music appeals as much to lovers as to quiet evenings of personal reflection and welcome solitude, tends to be more sensual than sexual and is often as spiritual as it is soothing.

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