Altered Zones

Last month, the Library of Congress launched the National Jukebox, an online archive of more than 10,000 songs recorded before 1925. While sifting through the mountain of rarities, we went from feeling eager to uncover its countless unheard gems to understandably overwhelmed. And while the staff-made lists are definitely a great place to start, we thought that we'd reach out and request a playlist that's just for Altered Zones. We were extremely lucky to have gotten the library's curator of recorded sound, Matthew Barton, to make us an exotic compilation of country, blues, and ethnic music imported from Romanian, Irish, and Jewish immigrants. Read Barton's words on the playlist and stream the playlist at the National Jukebox below. --Ric Leichtung, Altered Zones

The National Jukebox's Playlist for Altered Zones

Matthew Barton from the National Jukebox at the Library of Congress says:
We start with some ragtime and jazz flavored mash-ups of operatic themes from the fingers of Felix Arndt, a great pianist and composer who died much too young in the influenza epidemic of 1918. From there, we go back to the turn of the 20th Century to hear the great Vess Ossman and his banjo. The banjo recorded well in the early the days of acoustic recording, and Ossman's precision and versatility kept him busy in the recording studio. "Dardanella Blues," from 1920, is a spirited complaint about Ben Selvin's 1919 hit "Dardanella," with the main vamp from Selvin's arrangement played on the xylophone, another instrument that recorded well in the acoustic era. The most popular xylophonist was George Hamilton Green, who leads the All-Star Trio on the next selection. Green's handiwork is still studied by mallet players today. "Doina Romance" was a lucky find while I was making this playlist, and I can't tell you much about it except that the two accordionists seem to have adapted many Eastern European vocal ornaments into their playing. Bagpiper Patrick J. Touhey was something of a jukebox himself. This virtuoso of the Irish uillean pipes recorded wax cylinders of Irish tunes to order, and we're fortunate that some survive. His three sides on the National Jukebox represent a rare foray into a commercial recording studio for him. Roumanian-born Joseph Moskowitz was a mallet player of a different sort, striking the strings of the Hungarian cimbalom with small wooden sticks to play a broad repertoire that included European folk and classical music, Turkish and Sephardic melodies, and ragtime. "Laughing Rag' picks up the tempo again. Most of the artists on this playlist have at least one other tune on the National Jukebox, but not this pair, alas. "It's a Long Way to Tipperary," from 1914, is closely associated with World War I, but John McCormack's version preserves the verses that tell the story behind the well-known chorus, which concerns a homesick and lovelorn Irishman adrift in the streets of London.