Featured DVD

From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale

Produced by Elena Martínez and Steve Zeitlin, directed by Henry Chalfant

This hour-long documentary tells a story about the creative life of the South Bronx, beginning with the Puerto Rican migration and the adoption of Cuban rhythms to create the New York Latin music sound; continuing with the fires that desimated the neighborhood; chronicling the rise of hip hop from the ashes and ending with reflections on the power of a neighborhood’s music to take the world’s pop culture by storm.  Click here for more information on this and other DVDs and CDs in the City Lore Store.

Featured CD

Friends of Old Time Music: The Folk Arrival 1961-1965 (3 CD set)

Produced by City Lore in association with Peter Siegel, and released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

This 3 CD box set was featured in The New York Times as one of the finest box sets in 2010.  The recordings chronicle a series of pioneering folk music concerts from the early 1960s with southern performers  in New York that captivated Bob Dylan and a generation.  Click here for more information on this and other CDs and DVDs in the City Lore store.

Featured Book

The Grand Generation: Memory, Mastery, Legacy

Mary Hufford, Marjorie Hunt, Steve Zeitlin

Anyone interested in elder artists, or the role of the elderly in the life cycle, should own a copy of this book.  As Dr. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett notes in her introduction, the three authors have a fine feeling for people and their artfulness.  Click here for more information on this and other books in the City Lore Store.