Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

Verna Gillis audio recordings

Summary

Collection ID:
CFCH.GILLIS
Creators:
Gillis, Verna
Dates:
Undated, 1968-1979
Languages:
Recordings in English and Haitian Creole.
Physical Description:
24 Sound tape reels
Tapes VG-0001 - VG-0021 have been digitally transferred at 96kHz/24-bit with the exception of tapes VG-0018 and VG-0019. Tape VG-0018 has been transferred poorly. Tapes VG-0019, VG-0022, VG-0023, VG-0024 require conservation prior to transfer.
Repository:
The Verna Gillis audio recordings consist of 24 open-reel tapes. The field recordings document work done by folklorist Verna Gillis in Haiti, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, and Cuba.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Verna Gillis audio recordings consist of 24 open-reel tapes. The field recordings document work done by folklorist Verna Gillis in Haiti, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, and Cuba between 1968-1979. Most recordings are of vodou ceremonies recorded in Haiti and church services led by Bishop Audrey F. Bronson. Also notable are performances by Comanche artist Joyce Lee "Doc" Tate Nevaquaya, an American Indian flute player.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The Verna Gillis audio recordings are arranged according to numbers assigned to the open reel tapes by the RRFAC. Where more than one tape from the same day or event exists, those tapes are kept together in the overall arrangement.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Verna Gillis (b. 1942) is a New York-based music producer and holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology. She is known for her successful efforts to bring musicians from various immigrant communities to the forefront of the New York City music scene, helping to usher music from the Carribean, Africa, and Latin America into the mainstream of American life during the 1970s and 80s.
She was an Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College from 1974 to 1980 and at Carnegie Mellon University from 1988 to 1990.
From 1972 to 1979, Gillis recorded traditional music in Afghanistan, Iran, Kashmir, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Peru, Surinam, and Ghana.
In 1979, she opened Soundscape, a non-profit multi-cultural performance space in New York City, on west 52nd Street which she directed for the next five years. A New York Times profile from 1990 described the energy and importance of the performance space at this time: Gillis would book "lectures by the jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, voodoo ceremonies by the Haitian ensemble Troupe Makandal, art rock by the guitarist Arto Lindsay. David Byrne, Hal Wilner and Bill Laswell of the downtown musical crowd were regular listeners. The two giants of free jazz, Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman, collaborated for the first time ever in Soundscape, playing informally together over a two-week span of 1980." [1]
Gillis had to close Soundscape in 1987 after it went too deeply into debt, but she continued to be a force in the music community of the city. Gillis began a new career managing and producing international musicians including Youssou N'dour from Senegal, Yomo Toro from Puerto Rico, Salif Keita form Mali, and Carlinhos Brown from Brazil.
Gillis produced sixteen albums on Folkways/Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, which include music from the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Cuba, the Gambia, and Philadelphia, PA, as well as American Indian music and spoken word.
She was nominated for two GRAMMYs for her work as a producer: in 2000 for the Archie Shepp/Roswell Rudd Quartet Live in New York, and again in 2001 for Roswell Rudd's MALIcool.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/08/magazine/what-really-makes-new-york-work-secret-powers-verna-gillis-muse-melting-pot.html?pagewanted=all

Administration

Author
Dave Walker and Cecilia Peterson
Processing Information
The tapes in the Verna Gillis audio recordings were processed by Ronnie Simpkins in 2011 as a part of a digitization workflow, with an additional preservation assessment of problematic tapes by Dave Walker in 2016.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Preferred Citation
Verna Gillis audio recordings, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

More Information

General

General
Scope and Contents notes for each tape are composed of transcribed notes from the recto and verso of tape boxes. Archivist notes are in brackets.

Shared Stewardship of Collections

Shared Stewardship of Collections
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Native American flute Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Church music Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sermons Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vodou -- Haiti -- Rituals. Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bronson, Audrey F. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Guillén, Nicolás , 1902-1989 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nevaquaya, Doc Tate, 1932-1996 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
600 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, D.C.
rinzlerarchives@si.edu