Art of Field Recording: Volume I : 50 Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum

The sampler CD for this set was released in 2006 with the thought that the final result would be a five disc set, but after spending a long time with Art pondering the vast quantity of material he has amassed over the years, we decided to extend the release into multiple box sets. Volume I was released in November 2007, and Volume II is planned for 2008. If all goes well, there will be a third and final installment in 2009.

Art of Field Recording Volume I is a four disc set with a 96 page book that contains essays and annotations by Art and over 100 illustrations and photographs by Art and his wife Margo. Art took a similar approach to Harry Smith in assembling the music: the discs are divided into Blues, Instrumental and Dance, Sacred, and a Survey disc that has a little bit of everything.

Art Rosenbaum discusses Art of Field Recording with John Schaefer:

Acknowledgments

Pitchfork Media: "Even when Art and Margo are, ostensibly, acting as silent observers, it is still possible to sense the Rosenbaums' presence, and some of the interview-heavy cuts (see Mary Heekin's rendition of "Lord Randolph," from Disc 1) expose Art and Margo's investment in their work. The narrations included here can be as telling as the songs themselves."

USA Today: "Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music for a new generation..."

Wall Street Journal: "This four-disc set offers a sweeping survey of the American folk tradition, including blues, work songs, Mexican corridos, and more. Many of the recordings — which range from 94-year-old Sister Fleeta Mitchell's "I Am on the Battlefield for My Lord" to 7-year-old Ray Rhodes's true-crime ballad "Fred Adams" — appear on CD for the first time."

Excerpts from Selected Reviews

Black Grooves: "Every tune in Art of Field Recording is a gem, and shine all the brighter because Rosenbaum's love of music – and the people who do it – takes the listener on a journey into out-of-the-way American places where traditions are still created, re-created, and passed on down the line."

Uncut: ***** [5 stars out of 5] "This set unearths all manner of unknown Americana. Archivists Art and Margo Rosenbaum spent half a century recording obscure artists from the backwoods: parlour tunes, church hymns, slide blues, chain gang songs, Southern gospel and creepy country ballads. Complete with scholarly tome, the result is a riveting document of an all-but-vanished culture. An essential companion piece to Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music."