Easter

'Get In Union : Bessie Jones with the Georgia Sea Island Singers and Others' 2CD set out on Tompkins Square, October 28th

* Produced by Grammy-nominated Curator of the Alan Lomax Archive, Nathan Salsburg
* Features 26 previously unreleased tracks. Unheard collaborations with Rev. Gary Davis, Sweet Papa Stovepipe, Mable Hillery, and others.
* Remastered from Lomax's original tapes

Bessie Jones was one of the most popular performers on the 1960s and '70s folk circuit, appearing-usually at the helm of the Georgia Sea Island Singers-at colleges, festivals, the Poor People's March on Washington, and Jimmy Carter's inauguration. "Get In Union" is a collection of her classic recordings with the Singers, combined with many previously unavailable solo and small-group performances captured by Alan Lomax between 1959 and 1966.

Alan Lomax first visited the Georgia Sea Island of St. Simons in June of 1935 with folklorist Mary Elizabeth Barnicle and author Zora Neale Hurston. There they met the remarkable Spiritual Singers Society of Coastal Georgia, as the group was then called, and recorded several hours of their songs and dances for the Library of Congress. Returning 25 years later, Lomax found that the Singers were still active, and had been enriched by the addition of Bessie Jones, a South Georgia native with a massive collection of songs going back to the slavery era. Over the next several years, Lomax and Jones worked together to present, promote, and teach Southern black folk song across the country, from nightclubs to elementary schools. "Get In Union" features freshly remastered audio from 24-bit digital transfers of Lomax's original tapes and notes by the Alan Lomax Archive's Nathan Salsburg and Anna Lomax Wood, who accompanied her father on his 1960 recordings of Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers. 

Also Available on Tompkins Square :

He Is My Story : The Sanctified Soul of Arizona Dranes

Fire In My Bones : Raw, Rare & Otherworldly African-American Gospel, 1944-2007

This May Be My Last Time Singing : Raw African-American Gospel on 45RPM , 1957-1982

I HEARD THE ANGELS SINGING: Electrifying Black Gospel from the Nashboro Label, 1951-1983

Get In Union / Bessie Jones With The Georgia Sea Island Singers

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Jesus on the Mainline

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