Alan Lomax

The Profile

Alan Lomax (1915–2002) was an American ethnomusicologist and folklorist who documented folk and blues traditions across the United States and around the world. He worked with the Library of Congress, conducted extensive field recordings, and helped bring artists like Lead Belly, Muddy Waters, Son House, and Woody Guthrie to wider attention.

American ethnomusicologist and folklorist; conducted influential field recordings for the Library of Congress; collaborated in Italy with Diego Carpitella; recorded and promoted artists including Lead Belly, Son House, Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, and Woody Guthrie; his archives are preserved in public institutions including the Library of Congress.

The review hails Alan Lomax as a heroic ethnomusicologist whose field recordings shaped modern music. It focuses on the Italian Treasury sampler, tracing regional styles from Sicily to Sardinia and highlighting rare forms like the Genoese trallalero. It underscores Lomax’s risks in the American South and challenges during McCarthy-era Europe. Overall, it celebrates his archival rigor and the album’s vivid journey through mid-century Italian folk life.