Detailed information on almost all ethnic and vernacular recordings from many countries on 78rpm is provided in this seminal work. The current state of discographical research in this wide and varied field is such that a research tool of this nature is badly needed. Jesse Walter Fewkes and Mary Hemenway recorded Native American music as early as 1890; Bela Bartok recorded rural music in the Balkans; Erich von Hornbostel, the grand old man of ethnomusicology in Europe, recorded in Southeast Asia. More than just a discography, this work demonstrates that cultures around the world and over time have more similarities than differences. A necessity for scholars, students, archivists, and individual record collectors and dealers.

The goals of this volume are many and varied: to promote thought and discussion toward a concise definition of recorded ethnic music; to assist specialists working on individual discographical projects; to introduce users to the interconnectedness of cultures through regional music; to gather heretofore disparate pieces of information under one cover in a way that for the first time allows specialists to accurately identify all manner of recordings in many languages. The four sections of the volume work together for easy usage through cross referencing. The philosophy behind the volume was expressed by Rodney Gallop when he remarked that music, for him, was often the key to the understanding of other cultures.

This volume gathers together and organizes in an easily accessible format all known information relevant to the life and work of the French jazz musician Django Reinhardt. Together with fellow musician, Stephane Grappelli, Reinhardt became one of the twentieth century's most celebrated jazz artists with performances he gave as part of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Essentially discographical in format, this book updates the original work compiled by Charles Delauney in 1960, and draws on later work by Gould, Nevers, Royal and Rust, to detail all known recordings by Reinhardt, together with known film, radio and television appearances. For each entry Paul Vernon provides, where known, the location of the recording, the date, the artist credit as it appears on the label of the original issue, the performers and the instruments played by them, the matrix number, the exact timing of the recording and details of 78, LP, EP and CD issues. Interspersed at the appropriate chronological points are biographical details about Reinhardt and the political, social and cultural climate of his time. This is augmented with excerpts from reviews, letters and other documents to provide a vivid context for his recording work.

First published in 1999, the main part of this reference consists of an alphabetical listing of many hundreds of artists, with details on band personnel, instrumentation, location, titles performed, sources, and other relevant notes included in each listing.

Born to shell-shocked parents in shell-shocked London shortly after the end of World War II, Paul 'Sailor' Vernon came into his own during the 1960s when spotty teenage herberts with bad haircuts began discovering The Blues. For the Sailor it became a lifelong obsession that led him first to record collecting and stalking unsuspecting visiting bluesmen, and then into a whirlwind of activity as a rare record hunter, record dealer, magazine proprietor/editor, video bootlegger and record company director before a variety of personal and business setbacks eventually ushered him into seeking a more stable form of existence. The many twists and turns in the author's roller-coaster adventure of a life are all vividly charted in this hilarious illustrated autobiography. GASP as you read how he road-tripped his way through the Deep South armed only with a Rand McNally map, a Swiss army knife and an emergency jar of Marmite! MARVEL as you absorb in-depth descriptions of legendary performances by long-departed giants of the Blues! CHOKE on your coffee as one rotten gag after another blindsides you! REND YOUR GARMENTS as you realise just how many original Blues 78's went through his sweaty hands! SHOUT "BLIMEY!" within earshot of surprised elderly relatives as you follow the rags-to-riches tale of his extraordinary life! It's all here in this one-of-a-kind life history that will leave you reaching for an enamel bucket and a fresh bottle of disinfectant!