The idea for Virginia's "Crooked Road" began to germinate in the minds of Virginians in January 2003. A number of public officials, musicians, and others were interested in an economic development strategy for the Appalachian region of southwestern Virginia, and they wanted to draw on the region's rich musical heritage. Over time, the project grew, and today it includes ten counties, three cities,...

Jazz man is first African-American to solo on U.S. circulating coin http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/02/24/duke.ellington.coin/ Mint produces D.C. quarter http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2009/02/09/News/Mint-Produces.D.c.Quarter-3619337.shtml Duke Ellington http://www.dukeellington.com/ Duke Ellington: Perdido http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIRzgWmbtKs Duke...

High school history educators may enjoy this lesson plan from EDSITEment!, a humanities education hub that was featured in its entirety in the 07-15-2011 Scout Report. This lesson plan, which focuses on Music and the Civil Rights Movement, recognizes that "the popular music of the early 1960s offers a unique and engaging entry point into the politics surrounding equal rights in mid-twentieth...

Throughout the mid to late twentieth century, musicologist Alan Lomax collected thousands of audio recordings of musical performances from around the globe. In doing so, Lomax sought to create a "global jukebox." The Global Jukebox is an interactive online resource that allows visitors to listen to a number of musical recordings organized on a world map by geographical location and by culture. If...

Hip hop music in Africa is a vital cultural form that has been used to "represent marginalized voices, social movements, and identities," across the continent. The Hip Hop African is a student-driven project dedicated to exploring the music genre's impact through a blog and monthly podcast. The site was started by the Howard University Department of African Studies, and its content continues to be...

As a secular saint of Tin Pan Alley, Hoagy Carmichael looms large in the world of American popular song. As a native Hoosier, Carmichael graduated from the Indiana University School of Law and went on to write hundreds of standards, including "Star Dust" and "Two Sleepy People". This digital tribute and archive to his work was created by staff members at the Indiana University Library. On the...

Housed at the Gonzaga University Libraries, the Howard W. and Nancy A. Wildin Music Collection contains over 20,000 pieces of original popular sheet music. The collection's items date back to the mid-19th century, and there are complete song folios within, along with materials created for specific theater and dance productions. Currently, there are over 200 items here, including "All Aboard for...

For readers who love listening to their favorite songs again and again, The Infinite Jukebox may come as somewhat of a revelation. For an introduction, readers may go to the site and click on a few of the popular tunes listed on the homepage. For instance, selecting Superstition by Stevie Wonder kicks off the 1972 hit in the way you've always heard it. But then The Infinite Jukebox takes over,...

Throughout the 1970s, Professor James Koetting of Brown University spent a great deal of time in Ghana recording traditional and popular music. Recently the Center for Digital Initiatives at the Brown University Library created this excellent online digital collection that brings together Koetting's field recordings, field notebooks, photographs, and recorded interviews. The collection affords a...

Up on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, The Jewish Museum remains the preeminent museum in the United States "devoted exclusively to the scope and diversity of 4,000 years of art and Jewish culture." The Museum is quite fantastic, and their website offers up selections from their collections and special exhibits along with ample information about their educational programs and membership...