Life and legacy of Alan Lomax

Alan Lomax was a man whose boundless musical curiosity elevated folksongs to the level of ?serious music.? The lasting effect of his explorations, discoveries and archives alongside the developing technology of audio recording cannot be easily overstated. Lomax started his career in the 1930s, working for his father (John Lomax) at the Library of Congress Archive of American Folksongs where he collected some 25,000 songs. In the 1950’s he traveled and recorded the volume Columbia Library of World Music. His work had a large impact on Americans’ understanding of the extraordinary nature of our “ordinary” culture. Take a listen to some of his legacy.