Performing Arts
Gene Krupa: a Drummer with Star Power
Rising to fame with the Benny Goodman band, Gene Krupa was the first superstar drummer
March 2011 |
By Owen Edwards
Ella Jenkins Releases Her Latest Kid's Album, "A Life in Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bol1lyO7134Today, singer and songwriter Ella Jenkins, the “First Lady of Children’s Music,” releases her 29th Smithsonian Folkways album, A Life in Song. Music is life for Jenkins, who turned 86 last August and has been playing and performing for more than 50 years. I...
February 22, 2011 |
By Jeff Campagna
Forty Years of Philadelphia Sound
Songwriters Leon Huff and Kenneth Gamble composed tunes with political messages for chart-toppers like the O’Jays and Billy Paul
February 18, 2011 |
By Jim Morrison
Together, At Last
Doris Day, Miles Davis and Devo share the stage
February 2011 |
By Richard Middleton
Events: Holiday Fun, American Indian Artists, Fossil Forensics and More
Monday, December 13: For an all-inclusive seasonal celebration, come see “Seasons of Light.” This annual performance highlights the customs of winter holidays from all over the world, such as Ramadan, Diwali, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, Christmas and winter solstice celebrations. Tickets are required. P...
December 13, 2010 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Wednesday Roundup: Jazz, Holiday Cards and the New Soda Bottle
Test Your Jazz Chops: Smithsonian Folkways just announced their forthcoming Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology, which will be available beginning March 29. The collection features 111 songs on six CD's that chronicle the history of jazz music, focusing on its most notable innovators and styles, from b...
December 08, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
Events: Seasonal Celebrations, Norman Rockwell, Public Art and More
Monday, December 6: For an all-inclusive seasonal celebration, come see “Seasons of Light.” This annual performance highlights the customs of winter holidays from all over the world, such as Ramadan, Devali, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, Christmas and Winter Solstice celebrations. Tickets are required. Pr...
December 06, 2010 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Dinosaur Drive-In: Triassic Attack
The most telling moment in SyFy's latest installment of Saturday night schlock - Triassic Attack - comes fairly early on in the film. Dismayed and angered by the expansion of a nearby college, a Native American protester named Dakota (played by Raoul Trujil...
December 03, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Alvino Rey’s Musical Legacy
As the father of the electric guitar and grandfather of two members of Arcade Fire, Rey was a major influence on rock for decades
December 03, 2010 |
By Anne Miller
Smithsonian Folkways' Sounds of the Civil Rights Movement
On the night of February 18, 1965, 26-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson attended a civil rights rally at Zion's Chapel Methodist Church in Marion, Alabama. But when the peaceful protesters exited the church, they were met with hostile reactions from the state and local police. Jimmie and his family tried...
November 17, 2010 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Wednesday Roundup: Space Suits, Diaries and Native Music
Inner Workings of the Space Suit: This week, the AirSpace blog exposes one of their spacesuits from the inside out using X-Ray imaging. Until now, the only way to glimpse the inside of these high-tech uniforms was to shine a flashlight down the wrist or neck of the outfit. But recently, Mark Avino,...
November 17, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
Mining the Folkways Archives: How to Kick That Smoking Habit
We've all seen those public service announcements on television advising you to stop smoking—and some are quite compelling, such as this 1985 ad with stage and screen actor Yul Brynner whose life was drastically cut short by lung cancer. Smoking is the most common cause of cancer death in this coun...
November 02, 2010 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Wednesday Roundup: Podcasts, Warhol and Archives
Just Close Enough To The Sun—This week, the folks at the "AirSpace" blog treat us to a few photos of that fiery red giant near and dear to our hearts, the sun. Using a telescope from the Public Observatory Project made especially for looking into the sun's harsh light, solar imaging expert Greg Pie...
October 20, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
Dino B-Movie Alert: Triassic Attack
Regular readers know that I can't resist cheesy dinosaur movies, and a new SyFy feature set to debut late next month will be the latest stinker to be heaped on the pile of bad dino cinema.Called Triassic Attack, this direct-to-video schlock features the reanimated skeletons of a pterosaur and a Tyr...
October 19, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Wednesday Roundup: Cute Lion Cub Pics, Kiwis and Hula Hoops
Name That Kiwi—On June 15, the National Zoo hatched a female brown kiwi, the second kiwi born this year. To pay homage to New Zealand, the flightless bird's motherland, they have decided to name the chick after the Maori, the indigenous people of the islands. They have chosen three Maori names, and...
October 06, 2010 |
By Jess Righthand
Elizabeth Mitchell Teaches the Kids to Sing
Think of children’s music, and costumed freaks might come to mind. Barney. The Wiggles. But songstress Elizabeth Mitchell is unassuming in appearance, and her voice is warm and inviting.Mitchell’s new album, Sunny Day, drops today on the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label (go to their Web site h...
October 05, 2010 |
By Jeff Campagna
Dinosaur Drive-In: When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
If paleontologists have said it once, they have said it a hundred times: non-avian dinosaurs and humans never coexisted. Most people who insist otherwise are creationist cranks who believe that evidence of a living dinosaur would somehow undermine evolutionary theory, but I understand that Hollywoo...
September 21, 2010 |
By Brian Switek
Debating on Television: Then and Now
Kennedy and Nixon squared off in the first televised presidential debate 50 years ago and politics have never been the same
September 14, 2010 |
By W. Barksdale Maynard
"The Rivals" Premieres on the Smithsonian Channel
Kids are back to school. Cravings for homemade chili and freshly picked apples kick in. And across the country, football season officially begins. (If you haven't seen high school and college players, strengthened by arduous two-a-days, suiting up for their season openers, you've surely witnessed o...
September 10, 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
The Smithsonian's Ambassador of Jazz
Music curator John Edward Hasse travels the globe teaching the genre that revolutionized American music
September 2010 |
By Erica R. Hendry
