Jonathan Ward: The 78 was really the primary sound carrier for the majority of the 20th century. When you look at the world holistically in terms of the recording industry, most music–and that includes folk and popular and all of that–were issued on 78s and most of that material has never, globally speaking, been reissued. So the only way to hear it is to find the recordings. And in particular on this collection, I liked to focus on regional music because it was not part of the mainstream, but represented a very important part of the cultures. What I wanted to do with this set is kind of overwhelm people. If there's some tracks on here that people absolutely just can't stand and do not respond to, that's very important to me, because that's where I take off. There are entire worlds and cultures and people who understand that music far better than I do, and far better than anyone else does. That music moves them, and I like to be humbled when I'm confronted with that type of thing.
[music]
Nick Spitzer: Let’s go to something that, to me, feels familiar, but it's also a revelation, and it's Los Chinacos from Zacamandú. Mexico. That's on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. They refer to the son huasteco, and they have these small format jarana guitars. It's a new world, familiar, Afro-Caribbean-European kind of music.
JW: Yeah, it's a music that is alive and well today, and in fact, when I first listened to this track, which I think is among the very first son huasteco tracks that have ever been recorded, it sounds exactly like some of the bands who perform today. They have kept that alive. This song, “Zacamandú,” is still performed today, but with quite different lyrics.
[music]
NS: I'm looking at another recording you have here from a Sicilian immigrant named Giovanni Vicari, and he ends up in the US recording a song, “Rose D’Italia.”
JW: Yeah, he’s a master, and his name is actually Vicari, believe it or not, he pronounced it Vicari like hickory.
NS: It’s almost like he Anglicized the pronunciation.
JW: I'm not quite sure the reasoning behind that, but that's what he said himself because he lived well into the 70s and gave banjo lessons to people at his apartment.
But he didn't record a ton of records, but what he was was a superb string player, and this is one that has not been reissued, so I wanted to focus on that.
[music]
NS: Let me move along to Liam Walsh: “The Partlaw Reel,” and this gentleman is what we call an uilleann piper.
JW: He plays the uilleann pipes, yeah. And what's interesting is that a lot of the uilleann pipers that recorded during this time, really most of them, were recorded in the US. But there are a couple that were recorded in the UK, and he is one of them. It was a very early electric recording, so early use of microphones, and it has such a tremendous sound for that. Another interesting aspect of this record is that it was reissued in the United States, but not necessarily for the Irish American market, which is curious because there are loads of Irish American records and phenomenal performers being issued for that demographic here in the US at that time. But this was issued on the sound effects series of the Victor Label, which is curious to say the least.
To hear the full program, tune in Saturdays at 5 and Sundays at 6 on WWNO, or listen at americanroutes.org.