"cotton Eyed Joe"

Amazon Review by Stuart Jefferson
If you're a blues fan chances are you're already familiar with (if you don't already own) some/many/all of these albums. But if you don't own these sets (or have only a few) this is a good way to own all 20 albums in one nice, neat box. The sound is the same as the individual albums which is very good for the various periods when these tracks were originally recorded. The jackets are fairly thick cardboard and are reproductions of the original covers. The outer box is also of good quality. There's a 34 page booklet that has a few paragraphs on each disc, and track lists, but no detailed liner notes to really put this music into some kind of perspective, but information on these artists and styles is available in various blues books/encyclopedias and on the internet.

A duets collection of folk song covers could be pure novelty, but Rufus Wainwright infuses this recording with so much thought and care, it feels essential. Wainwright's song choices aren't precious. There are plenty of traditionals, including a jazzy version of the bluegrass standard "Cotton Eyed Joe" that finds him melting like butter next to Chaka Khan's heat.

This watershed release represents the life’s work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South.

Mike Seeger, along with his wife Alexia Smith and filmmaker Yasha Aginsky, trekked through the Appalachian Mountains in 2009 to produce this extraordinary glimpse of the vigor and diversity of the region’s old-time banjo artistry. When Seeger passed away later that same year, the project took on the added importance of paying tribute to this renowned musician, folklorist, and documentarian of the people.

This watershed release represents the life’s work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South.
William Ferris was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1942. Growing up on a working farm, Ferris began at a young age documenting the artwork, music, and lives of the people on the farm and in his local community. The archive of recordings that he created and the documentary films that he had a hand in producing have served as powerful tools in institutions of higher learning for decades. It is with great excitement that we present these films and recordings. Our hope is that the enjoyment and educational value that has been received by Ferris’s students over the years will be transmitted to listeners around the world and further the understanding of Southern culture.

Nina Simone was one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic. Simone was a singer, pianist, and songwriter who bent genres to her will rather than allowing herself to be confined by their boundaries; her work swung back and forth between jazz, blues, soul, classical, R&B, pop, gospel, and world music, with passion, emotional honesty, and a strong grasp of technique as the constants of her musical career. Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina on February 21, 1933. Her mother, Mary Kate Waymon, was a Methodist minister, and her father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who moonlighted as a preacher.

Even though Nina Simone’s career began at the start of the LP era, many of her recordings were also issued as singles, while others were only issued as singles. This 3-CD set compiles all of her 1957-62 singles, among them the perennial “I Loves You Porgy”, which charted at #2 in the UK and #18 in the USA in 1959, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (#23 in the UK; #93 in the USA in 1960), and “Trouble in Mind” (#11 in the UK; #92 in the USA in 1961).This collection presents the incomparable Nina Simone in a variety of musical contexts, backed by her trio or quartet, or by big bands conducted by Bob Mersey or Ralph Burns, among others.

Nina Simone was one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation, and also one of the most eclectic. Simone was a singer, pianist, and songwriter who bent genres to her will rather than allowing herself to be confined by their boundaries; her work swung back and forth between jazz, blues, soul, classical, R&B, pop, gospel, and world music, with passion, emotional honesty, and a strong grasp of technique as the constants of her musical career.