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Music

Images of Vickie Jones for the March 1969 Jet profile.

The Counterfeit Queen of Soul

A strange and bittersweet ballad of kidnapping, stolen identity and unlikely stardom

Killdeer like to nest in wide open spaces in areas with good visibility. This is not the particular killdeer that almost derailed the music festival, but one look into those eyes and you know that it could have if it wanted to.

A Nesting Bird Nearly Derailed a Canadian Music Festival

The brooding killdeer laid its eggs on a patch of cobblestone where the main stage of Ottawa’s Bluesfest was supposed to be set up

Miqayel Voskanyan plays the tar, an Armenian folk instrument.

Armenia

These Soulful, Soothing Armenian Songs and Instrumentals Blend East With West

Performers from all over the globe gather with traditional instruments to perform at this year’s Folklife Festival

Band members Yacine Belahcene Benet, Massinissa Aït-Ahmed, Gabriel Fletcher and Alexandre Guitart of "Yacine and the Oriental Grove" incorporate North African and Mediterranean musical traditions, as well as genres such as reggae and rock and roll.

Catalonia

Some of Barcelona’s Most Acclaimed Musicians Will Rock and Rumba Washington D.C.

Six acclaimed Catalan musical acts introduce Folklife Festival-goers to Mediterranean rock, habanera, rumbero and rumba

Dancing during the last day of Hatun Puncha.

Andean Solstice Celebrations Capture the Wondrous Churn of Spacetime

Exploring the similarities and differences between Indigenous and Western cosmologies

Clockwise from upper right, the items Feliciano donated to the Smithsonian included: his beloved Concerto Candelas guitar, a Braille writer his wife Susan used, a pair of his trademark glasses, and a heartfelt embroidered note from a Japanese admirer.

For More Than Five Decades, José Feliciano’s Version of the National Anthem Has Given Voice to Immigrant Pride

The acclaimed musician offers a moving welcome to the newest U.S. citizens and donates his guitar

Recordings are available via Soundcloud and the Google Arts & Culture platform

How to Hear the Met’s Historic Instruments’ Singular Sounds

New audio recordings by the museum feature roughly 40 instruments, from Ming dynasty lute to the world’s oldest surviving piano

Don't judge a bat by its cover ... of Barry White.

New Research

Like Birds, Some Bats Warble to Woo Their Mates

They join an elite club of mammals—including mice, whales and humans—whose melodies convey complex information

Cool Finds

“Lost” John Coltrane Album to Be Released

Both Directions At Once was recorded in 1963 by the classic quartet and reveals Coltrane’s journey from melodic standards to avant-garde jazz

Elsie Janis (1889-1956), an American singer, songwriter, actress, and screenwriter

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Sweetheart of the American Expeditionary Force

During World War I, vaudeville star Elsie Janis travelled to France to bring good cheer to U.S. troops

“I knew I had to tell a story of the past,” says Don Flemons, the Grammy-winning co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Songster Dom Flemons Brings Back the Melodies of the Black Cowboy

The Latest from Folkways, a Label Marking 70 Years, revives music traditions from the African-American ranch crews of the West

Cool Finds

Meet Freddy, the Runaway Bison Who Inspired a Choral Arrangement

The piece references Manitoban history, a small town’s celebrity animal and includes distorted bison noises

Robert Johnson (Kamal Naiqui) records some of his tunes that would later change rock music as we know it.

'Timeless' Recapped

Somebody’s Got a Case of the Blues: Timeless Season 2, Episode 6, Recapped

The time team’s humming a new tune after a run-in with one of the most influential men in American music history

Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen, Cleveland, Ohio by David Gahr, 1977

Ten Rarely Seen Springsteen Photographs That Capture the Exhilarating Power of The Boss

A new book reveals the work of David Gahr, who documented the music legend as he rose to worldwide fame

Kendrick Lamar makes history with Pulitzer win

Future of Art

Why Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Win Is History-Making

Smithsonian curator Dwandalyn Reece calls the award an important “recognition of the cultural, musical influence of hip-hop and rap”

Djassi Johnson (left) and Kevin Boseman (right) perform the dance choreographed by Johnson.

Exclusive: Watch a Dynamic Reinterpretation of Joan Baez’s “Civil War”

Part of a visual album accompanying the folk icon’s new release, this choreographed performance takes a lyrical look at the American conflict

Ten Summer Camps For Little Innovators

Forget swimming and archery. These camps will have your kids building robots, pitching business ideas, even fighting zombies!

The emotional interface tracks physiological signals associated with emotional states and translates them into music.

Can Biomusic Offer Kids With Autism a New Way to Communicate?

Biomedical engineers are using the sound of biological rhythms to describe emotional states

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Why Art and Music Lovers Are Flocking to South Carolina’s Lowcountry

Why South Carolina’s Lowcountry Has Become a Mecca for Art and Music Lovers

Armenia

Yerevan’s Mirzoyan Library Combines Cutting Edge Photography with Hypnotic Beats

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