Before the Golden Age of Americana on Record, immigrants from the dissolving Ottoman Empire were singing their joys and sorrows to disc in New York City. The virtuosic musicians from Anatolia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Levant living in the U.S. who recorded between WWI and the Depression imported their memories on shellac-and-stone in the form of 78rpm records. Music researcher, writer and producer Ian Nagoski has painstakingly uncovered, researched and restored these lost gems to reveal the intermingled lives and musics of Christians, Jews, and Muslims represent Middle Eastern culture as it existed within the U.S. a century ago.
Join us on April 1st at Rhizome DC for a fascinating, new view of American Folk Music as Ian presents a work described by Pitchfork as being "as essential to an understanding of American music as anything else.”
REVIEWS OF TO WHAT STRANGE PLACE:
4.5/5 “a beautiful and labyrinthine Americana, one that stretches
confines of the definition of the word itself. It is an essential
document for collectors of world music, but also for those interested
in the unsung personas that created 20th century America.” - AllMusic
”Comparisons with Harry Smith’s anthology or Revenant’s American
Primitive are in order, not least because this is American music with
a capital A, animated by the same feelings of desperation, nostalgia,
the quest for cheap kicks and the agony of loss. Like Smith, Nagoski
is a Walter Benjamin visionary, using his collection of 78s to
hallucinate a history that actually happened but which remains hidden
beneath official dogma and nationalisms.” -The Wire, August 2011
5/5 “…spend a little time with it and the joys, sorrows, yearnings
and pride of a life spent far, far away from home will creep into your
soul.” - Record Collector
“”I was entranced; I was FASCINATED. It is one of the most worthwhile
purchases you will make this year. I went and got mine; I think you
should, too.” - Henry Rollins, KCRW
Ian Nagoski is music researcher, musician, writer and record producer. His avocation is inspiring people who love music to love it more. After curating a string of international collections on his own Canary imprint, in 2011 Nagoski released To What Strange Place: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora, 1916-29, a 3CD set on the Tompkins Square label to international acclaim. Ian's recent work includes explorations of Hindustani vocal music and the recorded history of Bird Imitation across four continents.
When: Friday April 1, 2016, 8pm
Where: Rhizome DC, 6950 Maple St NW
Cost: $10 suggested donation