VA - Music from the South Vol.1-10 (2004)

Vol. 1: Country Brass Bands
"The fieldwork for this album sought to explore sources that would lead listeners back to the decades between the emancipation of the slaves in 1863 and 1900. The collector, Frederick Ramsey, Jr., endeavored to find old artists who had not yet been recorded, and with the single exception of Elder David Ross of New Orleans, he succeeded."-- SF

Vol. 2-4: Horace Sprott, 1-3
"Horace Sprott, born around 1890, performs on Volumes 2, 3, and 4 of this series. Frederic Ramsey, Jr. writes, "There were many men like Sprott...[who] passed from one hard time to another, never forgetting the song. In that way, the tradition and the repertoire grew, and a body of poetic expression emerged. This poetry, and the music that went with it, was their heritage and their trust.""-- SF

Vol. 5: Song, Play, and Dance
"This collection of recordings from Alabama features several kinds of music and dance, from Horace Sprott’s country blues harmonica to the sounds of Vicksburg musicians, who were influenced by both Kansas City jazz and Jelly Roll Morton’s piano artistry."-- SF

Vol. 6-7: Elder Songsters, 1-2
"Of Elder Songsters 1 & 2, Frederic Ramsey, Jr. writes, "The mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers [have] kept the music alive and burning in the home. There are ways of singing hymns and other songs that are peculiar to the family unit, and to [the] everyday environment... It is this everyday environment...that we have sought to capture in these two volumes.""-- SF

Vol. 8: Young Songsters
"Recorded in 1954, this album presents a younger generation of gospel singers from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. These performances represent a musical style based in the traditions heard on Volumes 6 and 7 of this series, but with clear movement toward a more polished urban gospel sound."-- SF

Vol. 9: Song and Worship
"This collection presents group singing from the Morning Star Baptist Church in New Orleans and examples of religious music from itinerant performers, and includes several song-like prayers from the congregation of the First Independent Holy Church of God in New Orleans."-- SF

Vol. 10: Been Here and Gone
"On this album, Frederic Ramsey, Jr. presents an overview of the material introduced in previous volumes of the Music from the South series. He organizes this compilation into two categories—"Sounds and Music"and "Saints and the Devil"—that encompass secular and religious music from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi."-- SF