ARTSEDGE: The Kitchen Sink

Stephen Schwartz discusses and performs "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin.

In 1920s rural Louisiana, ten cents granted admission to hours of rollicking music at a "La La" house party. La La party music—characterized by the use of accordions, fiddles, triangles, and washboards or rub-boards called frottoirs—formed the basis of zydeco. The French-speaking Creoles of southwest Louisiana added elements of blues and jazz to the party mix. The result was zydeco, a musical style dominated by the accordion, frottoir, and heavy syncopation (a rhythmic technique of shifting accents to weak beats).

Accordion player and singer Clifton Chenier was credited with naming this musical genre. After a long history of hits like "Zydeco Sont pas Sale," Chenier was dubbed the "King of Zydeco."

Zydeco is often linked with Cajun music, but it has a harder, faster sound and employs more electric instruments. In dance halls today, elements of soul, disco, rap, and reggae can be heard among the rhythms of the frottoir.

Join the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra for a lecture and demonstration explaining each of the four sections of the Chinese orchestra as well as some of the individual instruments.

Stephen shares the development of Pippin and advice from the legendary Hal Prince.

Texas blues originated in the early 1900s alongside the sweat and tears of Blacks working on oilfields, lumber camps, and ranches. After a day of back-breaking labor, workers could unwind in nearby bars or on their own porches and listen to blues musicians who spoke to their own experiences.

The Texas sound is known for being more relaxed than other blues styles, with breathier vocals and a swinging feel. Bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson put Texas on the blues map with his jazzy improvisation and percussive way of playing the guitar. Jefferson's technique of picking along a single string and hammering out repetitive figures in the lower register influenced generations of musicians.

After World War II, blues went electric. With the advent of the electric guitar came increased volume and resonance—a sought-after sound among recording studios in northern U.S. cities. Although many musicians migrated north to join the booming recording industry, the blues still thrives in Texas today.

Beijing Traditional Music Ensemble's extensive repertoire and virtuoso musicians demonstrate the range of distinctive styles that developed in each region for erhu (fiddle), pipa (lute), and other instruments.

To watch the entire sixty minute show visit the Millennium Stage archives http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=CHINTRADMU

Stephen Schwartz's college experience.

Texas has a rich tradition of troubadours—singer-songwriters who write, compose, and sing original songs. Grounded in the folk music tradition, singer-songwriters are recognized for their meaningful lyrics about real-life subjects as varied as social justice and family, war and love. Fueled by a strong sense of Texan identity and tried-and-true imagination, Texas songwriters tend to have a keen sense of place, revealed in the visual details of their lyrics.

Texas troubadours Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clarke ushered in the Texas singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s with poetic, emotional lyrics and music shaped by country, blues, folk, and tex-mex. Today's troubadours are also greatly influenced by Willie Nelson's outlaw country music, a grittier version of the popular country music that was coming out of Nashville at the time.

Backed by a tradition of independent spirit and grounded in multicultural roots, Texas singer-songwriters continue to imbue classic musical genres with new experiences and sounds.

Artists of the Yi and Wa ethnic groups from Yunnan Province-the most ethnically diverse in China-demonstrate their unique folk traditions in this excerpt from the Kennedy Center's free Millennium Stage show.

For more about the traditional arts of the Yunnan people, check out our Sounds of China PodPage http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3899/podcast.html.

To watch the entire sixty minute show visit the Millennium Stage archives http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=yunnan.

Get to know the musical beginnings of the aspiring composer.