Lomax the Songhunter

Well, school is just around the corner and I should be getting my classroom ready but my bad back has me laid-up at home.

I just finished watching a P.O.V. segment on Alan Lomax. Lomax followed in his fatherÂ’s footsteps and made filed recordings for folk songs from the U.S. and around the world.

Alan Lomax (1915-2002) earned a singular place for himself in American culture and arts. Building on the pioneering work of his father, John, whom he accompanied on folk-song recording tours of the American South and Southwest in the 1930s and 1940s, Alan set out after World War II to do nothing less than draw the folk music map of the world.

Some of you may have seen the film O Brother which uses period music of the 30s as well as older folk and work songs.

This documentary was fascinating. Lomax was alive during the filming but of because of a brain hemorrhage is not completely cognate. The film maker retraces some of Lomax's journeys and interviews many people who knew Lomax and sang for him. Scenes of the film maker retracing Lomax's journey are interspersed with archival footage and scenes of a ghost-like Lomax at his Florida home. Although slow paced, it is a very powerful documentary on many levels.

Without the work of Lomax, his father, and others many of these traditional songs would be lost forever.

You can find out more about Lomax here at Wikipedia. The link section at the end is also helpful but for some reason doesn't have http://www.alan-lomax.com/home.html. You can also stream some of this music (realplayer) from the POV site here.