Folk Music on Disc: The Lomax Collection

Little links these two pairs of discs issued together. The Cajun and Creole in two chunky bites was recorded on the then new portable disc recorder. Portable? ‐ it weighed 300 pounds, but it demonstrated the importance of recording in context rather than in the artificial atmosphere of a studio or house. (The same ‐ see below ‐ does not necessarily apply to festivals and concerts.) In 1934 and 1937 John and Alan Lomax combed the Louisiana countryside, tirelessly documenting the quirks of many‐faceted styles. Although there are more than traces of blues, round‐dance songs, half‐familiar fiddle tunes, and the...