Smithsonian Folkways

‘Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace,’ the new album from musician, activist, and former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, is out now on Smithsonian Folkways. Produced by composer, bassist, and vocalist esperanza spalding, the album moves fluidly between jazz, poetry, rock, and Native musical traditions while reflecting on collective upheaval, ancestral memory, and the enduring power of art to bear witness and create change. Harjo’s voice is bold and direct, covering a repertoire that includes a Charles Mingus standard, an unearthed song written by her mother and sung by spalding, and a range of originals shaped by contemporary issues and her life as one of the most celebrated American poets of the last century. Joined by spalding, guitarist Matthew Stevens, and drummer Justin Tyson throughout the record, Harjo also plays alongside singer and composer Ganavya on a soulful rendition of the poem “I Am a Prayer.” Available on CD, 2LP, and digital formats, the album features Harjo’s first original painting in years on its cover, along with an etched LP side showcasing her mother’s original typewritten lyrics for “My Guy.” Extensive liner notes by Harjo give shape to her own history as an artist and poet. 📸 Portrait by Melissa Lukenbaugh. Photos of recording session by Graham Tolbert. Album design by Caroline Gut.

‘King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco,’ the first-ever box set dedicated to the legendary Clifton Chenier, is finally here. With music, storytelling, and abundant visual material, this monumental collection demonstrates Chenier’s life as a transformative artist—from his earliest days practicing in the barn back home, to his reign as the undisputed King of Zydeco. The 4CD/6LP set features unreleased live recordings from the Arhoolie Foundation’s archive and a chronology of Chenier’s landmark work with Arhoolie Records and other labels, along with a 160-page book that brings together rare photographs, graphic artifacts, track notes, and illuminating essays. Now available to stream or purchase at the link in our bio 👑 Produced by Adam Machado of the Arhoolie Foundation Mastered by Jessica Thompson Annotated by CJ Chenier, Herman Fuselier, Adam Machado, and Nick Spitzer Art direction, design, and layout by Visual Dialogue

Today Kronos Quartet shares “Peace Be Till: IV. Symphony of Social Justice,” the second single off their upcoming album ‘Glorious Mahalia.’ “‘Peace Be Till’ is about the legacy of America’s civil rights movement, the important role artists play in critical social justice movements, and the necessary dreams today,” writes composer Zachary James Watkins. This fourth movement of his composition “Peace Be Till” features Kronos Quartet performing alongside a newly recorded conversation with Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speechwriter, lawyer, and friend. In the recording, Jones reads from his copy of King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which he calls a “symphony of social justice.” As King’s lawyer, it was Jones who took the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” out of King’s jail cell in April 1963 to help get it published. ‘Glorious Mahalia’ pays tribute to the life and legacy of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, highlighting the close friendships among Jackson, King, and Jones and celebrating their prominent roles in the civil rights movement. Listen to the new track and preorder the album, arriving April 3 on CD, LP, and digital formats, at the link in our bio.

On June 12, the album ‘Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings’ will be reissued on vinyl for the first time as a double LP. This 26-track compilation, first released in 2003 as part of the Smithsonian Folkways Classic CD series, spans half a century and features Delta, St. Louis, Southwest, Piedmont, and Chicago styles performed by revered musicians Son House, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Elizabeth Cotten, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGhee, among other foundational blues figures. Produced by musician and scholar Dr. Barry Lee Pearson, the album also serves as a pathway into Smithsonian Folkways’ vast catalog of blues recordings and traces how Folkways Records became a hub for blues music in the mid-20th century. The vinyl reissue comes with Pearson’s original liner notes, which chronicle the history behind each song and artist. Preorder your copy today at the link in our bio.

Happy Mother’s Day! Found in the Lee Hays papers, a collection dating from 1923 to 1982 in our Ralph Rinzer Folklife Archives, is this Polaroid of Toshi Seeger. 🍅 📸

Poet and musician Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, became the first Native American United States Poet Laureate in 2019. Today is her 75th birthday! Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harjo studied drawing before finding her passion for poetry during her time at the University of New Mexico. “I met Native poets who were writing about our lives,” she explained. “That shifted it for me.” Since then, Harjo has published 11 books of poetry, three children’s books, and two memoirs. Performing with her saxophone and flutes, Harjo has also had a celebrated career in music. Last month, she released her latest album “Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace” with our @SmithsonianFolkways . Showcasing her bold and direct voice, the record moves fluidly through jazz, poetry, rock, and Native musical traditions. Swipe to hear a clip of the song “Stomp All Night” and see the album’s cover art, which features Harjo’s first original painting in years. Recently, our @SmithsonianNPG acquired a life-size portrait of Harjo, pictured above, by artist Joel Daniel Phillips as part of the museum’s 2025 Portrait of a Nation Awards. See this work on paper currently on view at the museum. Doomscrolling this Saturday morning? We’ll leave you with the opening lines from Harjo’s 2015 poem “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet.” “Put down that bag of potato chips, that white bread, that bottle of pop. Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control. Open the door, then close it behind you. Take a breath offered by friendly winds. They travel the earth gathering essences of plants to clean. Give it back with gratitude.” Learn more about Harjo’s journey as an artist with our @SmithsonianNMAI ’s American Indian Magazine (link in bio). 📷: “Joy Harjo” by Joel Daniel Phillips, 2022. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution © Joel Daniel Phillips 🎶: @SmithsonianFolkways album design by Caroline Gut

For our People’s Picks playlist series this month, Shabaka lets his “mind run free” as he draws together flute music from across the Smithsonian Folkways catalog and around the world. Over the past decade, Shabaka has been a catalytic force in modern Black British jazz. As a bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, his work has reshaped global perceptions of jazz and experimental music through a practice that moves fluidly between various forms, traditions, and diasporic sounds. His 2026 album, ‘Of The Earth,’ is the first release on his new label, Shabaka Records. Listen to Shabaka’s People’s Picks at the link in our bio, and read on to see what he has to say about the recordings he selected.

“I am a union woman, as brave as I can be; I do not like the bosses, and the bosses don’t like me…” Born in Clay County, Kentucky, Aunt Molly Jackson (1880–1960) was an influential folk singer, songwriter, union organizer, and midwife whose songs captured the struggles and resilience of coal miners and working-class life. ‘The Songs and Stories of Aunt Molly Jackson,’ released on Folkways Records in 1961, pairs her spoken reflections with folklorist John Greenway’s performances of “I Am a Union Woman,” “Poor Miner’s Farewell,” and other poignant songs she penned. Conceived as a summation of Jackson’s life and activism, the album became a posthumous tribute when she died the weekend before the planned recording session. Greenway offers historical context in the liner notes and remembers Jackson as “one of the most valiant and effective champions of the coal miners.” Listen in honor of International Workers’ Day, and find the liner notes free to download on our website—link in bio.

Sixty years ago this month, the second annual Berkeley Blues Festival took place in the Harmon Gymnasium at the University of California, Berkeley. The event marked Clifton Chenier’s first live appearance in the Bay Area, as well as his first performance in a folk-revival concert setting. “Two thousand people turned out to hear Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, and Clifton Chenier,” producer Adam Machado writes in the track notes of the new box set, ‘Clifton Chenier: King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco.’ “Clifton was a little nervous, as Chris [Strachwitz] remembered it, playing in front of this new seated audience and without his band.” Though Hopkins and Lipscomb had previously appeared in the Bay Area, and Muddy Waters was also a well-known figure, it was Chenier who was the surprise hit of the evening. Accompanied only by drummer Francis Clay of the Muddy Waters band, Chenier introduced his blues accordion style to the California scene. “This was the stripped-down Chenier sound which I heard when I first met him at a beer joint in Houston’s Frenchtown,” Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz later recalled. “Clifton was a truly amazing singer and accordionist, yes, a blues accordionist, something no one outside of Louisiana had ever heard before. He made some powerful music that night and had the audience absolutely spellbound!” Two cuts from Chenier’s performance at the 1966 Berkeley Blues Festival, recorded live on KAL radio, appear on ‘King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco.’ Hear “Louisiana Shuffle” and “French Zydeco” at the link in our bio. 📸 Courtesy Arhoolie Foundation. Poster, Berkeley Blues Festival, April 1966. Photo of Clifton Chenier with his cousin Lightnin’ Hopkins, by Chris Strachwitz. #CliftonChenier #ArhoolieRecords

We remember Chip Taylor (1940–2026), born James Wesley Voight, the renowned musician and songwriter best known for penning classic hits like “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning.” Across a six-decade career, his songs have been performed and recorded by countless artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson, and “Angel” was later reimagined into Shaggy’s 2001 No. 1 hit. A 2016 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, he also released more than 30 albums and collaborated widely before his death on March 23, at age 86. In 2011, Taylor released his first album of children’s music, ‘Golden Kids Rules,’ on Smithsonian Folkways. Written and recorded alongside his granddaughters Riley, Kate, and Samantha, the album celebrates the joy and wonder of family and the musical bonds that hold them together. Chip Taylor & The Grandkids performed these original songs at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival that same year. “Some of my favorite songs that I’ve ever written have been for, and about, family members—and for special occasions,” Taylor shares in the album’s liner notes. “Births, marriages, birthdays, and my mom’s passing have sparked some songs. On the occasion of my son Kristian’s wedding a few years ago, I wrote several songs with the idea that some of their favorite people on the planet—my daughter Kelly and my grandchildren—would sing them with me … “There are lots of smiles here and lots of serious stuff too. And you know what? Kids like singing about serious stuff—because they think about that stuff—whether YOU talk about it or not. We sing about trust, honesty, kindness, and saving the planet. And also about one parent being a Yankee fan while the other is a Red Sox fan and about old dogs and fears of dying, and dreams for the future.” You can read more about Taylor’s life and music in the liner notes to ‘Golden Kids Rules’ on the Folkways website. Photos by Davey Wilson / Cover design by Andy Taray

In 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American and the second person to travel into space. ‘Man in Space: The Story of the Journey - A Documentary’ tells “the story of that man, his journey, and of the scientists who made possible his mission in outer space” with narration, recordings of the flight’s radio communications, and interviews with NASA personnel and astronauts. Shepard would return to space a decade later as commander of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission, becoming the fifth person to walk on the Moon and the first to play golf on the lunar surface. 🚀 See the liner notes and listen to the audio documentary, released on Folkways Records in 1964, at the link in bio.

It was Mahalia Jackson who, during the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, called out to Martin Luther King Jr., saying, "Tell them about your dream, Martin, tell them about your dream." When David Harrington, leader of @kronos_quartet , heard the story of the moment Mahalia's statement changed the course of this speech, Harrington realized Mahalia is an example of "when we are not hearing what we need to hear, we have to step up and speak clearly and boldly." Out now, ‘Glorious Mahalia’ is the quartet's tribute to that moment of learning and the result of years of listening to Mahalia Jackson recordings, Studs Terkel radio shows, and the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. #5RecordsWithDiscogs