Lomax the Songhunter
If you love to hear folk music of various cultures, we suggest you definitely watch Lomax the Songhunter by Rogier Kappers. Alan Lomax, the remarkable chronicler of folk music, is the subject of this admiring and well-acclaimed film. After World War II, Lomax “set out to do nothing less than draw the folk music map of the world. From Southern prisons in the USA to remote villages around the world, this musical roadmovie follows in Lomax’s footsteps to document folk music traditions that are quickly dying out amid mass media and commercial radio.
Social Interest
‘Songhunter’, Alan Lomax devoted his life to recording folk tunes before they permanently disappear from our collective memory. He saw a mass media growing less interested in indigenous voices by the day; and by the force of his will he used it to make those voices more audible to the wider world. With the thousands of recordings he made of ordinary people the world over, he became a kind of caretaker for the untrammeled expressions of whole societies that had been shoved to the sidelines by the madness and rush of the twentieth century. He called it cultural equity.
Historical Interest
Alan Lomax existed as a spiritual father to the Folk Revival in the 60’s. Part archivist, part impresario, part broadcaster, folklorist, and propagandist, he had spread the news to a world obsessed with Modernity that something other than what they were hearing on the radio or the jukebox still existed, much of it right under their noses. This film is as good a start as any to learn about this important researcher and his preservation efforts among various folk artists. In it we travel to distant places around the world while we hear and see various unique songs that have never before been recorded.
In Memoriam
The effects of a stroke prevented Lomax from taking an active role in the film (he died in 2002, midway through production). Instead, With Lomax’s travel notes in voiceover, director Kappers travels the world to meet people whom Lomax recorded and portrays his life and work through interviews with associates, relatives and friends. Lomax himself is shown in various times in his life up to just before he died in 2002 when he could hardly speak.
Awards
Nashville Film Festival Impact of Music Award – Honorable Mention
Dutch Academy Awards – Best long documentary
Scenes
- Anna reads article of her father Alan Lomax
- Daugther Anna reads to her father, Alan Lomax, the article he wrote 40 years ago. The article is called ‘The saga of a folk song hunter’ and was placed in the magazine Stereo Review.
- Peter Kennedy talks about Lomax and a Texan folk song
- Peter Kennedy, a folklorist and folk collector worked close with Lomax. He plays some Texan folk music, the first piece of music he and Lomax recorded, and he talks about the first meeting with Lomax.
- Kennedy and Lomax about folk and worksongs
- Worksongs have always been really important part of folk music, according to Kennedy and Lomax. Kennedy describes the use of worksongs to ease and support men and women during work.
- Lomax recording jail music
- When Lomax was recording folk music, he was also able to record music being made in a prison in Texas. This footage shows him recording and later on telling about how interesting this type of music was because of the large amount of soul in the music.
- Old recording devices, Lomax and Woody Guthrie
- Michael Taft shows the stored recording devices, including a device that Lomax would have used when he was recording folk music during the 1940s. The clip also shows a fragment of Woody Guthrie playing the guitar and singing while being recorded
- Yurchenko and the importance of Lomax for folk music
- Folksong collector Henrietta Yurchenko thinks of Lomax as the person who put folk music on the map in the ’30s, which was really important for the general perception of folk music according to her .
- Yurchenko and Pete Seeger about their relationship with Lomax
- In this clip Pete Seeger, a musician and folksinger visits Henrietta Yurchenko and they both talk about their experiences with Lomax, and about his character and his work recording folk music.
- Folk music, Lomax and Jean Ritchie
- This television footage from the ’40s shows Lomax talking about blues as folk music and folksinger Jean Ritchie plays and sings a song. This clip also contains an interview with Ritchie about her work with Lomax.
- Folksingers Peggy Seeger and Collins about Lomax
- Folksinger Shirley Collins talks about Lomax his way to connect with people, he immediately came across as friendly and graceful. Folksinger Peggy Seeger remembers that Lomax has always encouraged her by telling her the music sounded great. That’s what made him a great folk music collector.
- The character of Lomax
- Lomax’s daugther, Peter Kennedy, Peggy Seeger and Shirley Collins describe the character of Lomax.
- Vittoro de Seta about Alan Lomax
- Filmmaker Vittoro de Seta tells how he came in touch with Lomax when they were recording folk songs in Sicily. He also mentions the movie about swordfishing he made in 1954.
- Shirley Collins, Peggy Seeger, Pete Seeger and Peter Kennedy describe the mapping of folkmusic Lomax recorded
- Folksinger Shirley Collins, Peggy Seeger, Pete Seeger, and co worker Peter Kennedy describe the difference and the similarity between the folk music Lomax has recorded in England, Scotland, Spain and Italy. Lomax started mapping the folk music by the sound in relation to gender and sexual restraint. He tried to convince social scientists to listen to his ideas but he was told there wasn’t enough evidence or proof.
- Lomax as the protector of folk music and cultural equity
- This tv footage is a piece of an interview with Lomax, where he states that his job is to protect the folk music against the entertainment industry. with the recording of folk music Lomax is trying to realize some sort of cultural equity.
