deep river of song: louisiana various artists (Rounder) Cost $31.95

African-American field recordings made for the Library Congress from 1933 to 1946, a period when black singers of the South and the Caribbean created a new musical language and thousands of brilliant songs that would captivate people throughout the world. On this record there are legendary performances by the great Jelly Roll Morton and Leadbelly, and historic field recordings of French and English speaking jure, zydeco, ring shouts, and work songs.