Does the world really need another music download store? Well, in this case it does. The Smithsonian has opened a new online store featuring downloadable recordings from its Folkways collection. Smithsonian Global Sound features ethnic and traditional music that’s difficult to find anywhere else.
The music includes the songs of Woody Guthrie; the music of Mwenda Jean Bosco, the late guitar pioneer from Congo; the sound of the Turkish saz, a stringed instrument similar to a lute; playground songs by Suni Paz of Argentina; and the rich North Indian music of Kamalesh Maitra.
Hopefully the site can bring new listeners to the variety of music styles Folkways offers as well as help the Smithsonian continue recording and publishing sounds that you’re not likely to get from the homogenized "big four" recording labels.
Thanks for the link. My husband is always looking for flamenco music to add to his collection and he said there are people he hadn’t heard of in the listings.