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Raíces Latin Music Collection Receives Donation of Materials from El Taller LatinoAmericano El Barrio/East Harlem, New York – The Raíces Latin Music Collection is pleased to announce that it has received a donation of materials related to the activities organized and produced by and at El Taller Latino Americano (The Latin American Workshop) from its founding in 1979 until the present. Included in the gift are close to 2,000 LPs, press materials, pictures and artifacts that document the enormous vitality and contributions that El Taller Latino Americano has made to the cultural life of New York City. With a 29-year history of being the musical home in New York for musicians from all over the Americas, Artistic Director Bernardo Palombo has brought some of the greatest names in American music to El Taller including: Mercedes Sosa, Philip Glass, David Byrne, Leon Gieco, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Grupo Aymara, Conjunto Libre, The Soldier String Quartet, Pete Seeger, Luis Días, and Larry Harlow. El Taller's goal is not only to present the best in Latin Music, but also to encourage a mixture of musical traditions that results in new creative collaborations and truly new music. Raíces Director Ramon Rodriguez had this to say, "We are most grateful to Bernardo and Taller Latino Americano for recognizing the need for preservation and for their confidence in our efforts to take appropriate care of these materials. The gift includes significant early original recordings which will be an invaluable addition to our collection. We consider this donation; the first step in the development of what we hope will be an enduring partnership with both Bernardo and Taller. We look forward to his sharing his enormous knowledge as a musical historian so that we can document the many threads that connect composers, musicians, continents and specific periods in time to the New York City style of Latin music." The Raíces Latin Music Collection is dedicated to the musical, cultural, and historical preservation of Latin music, particularly the forms rooted in Afro-Caribbean traditions, which encompass Salsa and Latin Jazz. Founded as a grassroots initiative in l979 by musician/educators Louis Bauzo, and Ramon Rodriguez, at Boys & Girls Harbor, Raíces has since grown into an unprecedented multimedia collection of more than 19,000 items, making it the largest and most diverse collection in the country devoted to the evolution and impact of Latin music. Presently located in East Harlem, the Collection is a Designated Official Project of Save America's Treasures and an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. As an early-stage museum, Raíces is engaged in four distinct areas of programming: preservation and expansion of its Collection, public education and outreach such as concerts, exhibitions, symposiums and festivals, and capacity building for access by national audiences. An important function of the Collection is as library for the Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, which uses the scores, arrangements, and recordings held by Raíces to instruct and mentor the next generation of Latin musicians. Raíces enthusiastically invites donations to support its preservation activities, and also of materials for preservation. Items of interest include: photographs, rare recordings, books and periodicals, sheet music, concert posters, instruments, and memorabilia. For information regarding material donations please call Oliver Hirsch, Collection Manager at 646/981-2713. | |||||
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