VOA慢速英语--大学音乐节目发现了长期丢失的乡土爵士乐唱片

College Music Program Finds Long-Lost Funk Recordings²

In the summer of 2005, Drexel University’s Music Industry program got a strange phone call.

The caller was the owner of a storage center in Philadelphia. He asked if the school would like music studio recordings. He knew of thousands of them in storage. He said no one had paid for the storage in a long time.

The man said the recordings, also called tapes, all had the same name on them: Sigma Sound Studio.

For lovers of Philadelphia funk music, Sigma Sound Studio is a famous name. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sigma Sound helped create “The Sound of Philadelphia.” That special sound is made with strings³, horns, and other instruments.

The studio released hits like “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps and “When Will I See You Again” by The Three Degrees.

The Drexel program was sure it wanted the recordings, said Professor Toby Seay. Seay is the project director of the university’s sound collections.

“The thought was if there are 7,000 tapes coming from the Sigma collection, there’s gotta [got to] be good stuff in there,” he said.

They found great music, including recordings by famous artists such as David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and Sly Stone, among others.

As Seay and students went through the collection, they worked to make computer recordings of it. They knew there was always the possibility of discovering unheard and unreleased treasures.

Seay came upon just that in 2011, when he pulled a tape named “Nat Turner Rebellion” off the shelf.

“The song was called ‘Tribute to a Slave’ and it blew me away,” he said of the 1969 recording¹. He made a note to look for more work from the band.

Nat Turner led a slave revolt in the American state of Virginia in 1831.

In March, Drexel’s student-run MAD Dragon Records company released the band’s album, called Laugh to Keep From Crying, about 50 years after it was recorded. Critics from the New York Times praised the album as, “a greeting across eras ... socially conscious, tambourine-shaking funk.”

Joseph Jefferson was the leader of Nat Turner Rebellion. At 75, he’s the last surviving member of the group. “There was not a thought in my mind that this could have happened,” Jefferson told the Philadelphia Inquirer after the Nat Turner album’s release. “This is what I wanted. Just the recognition for this.”

So far, students and Seay have listened to and made computer copies of only about 10 percent of the music in the collection.

Dave Moore is a music historian and Philadelphia soul expert. He co-wrote the book, There’s That Beat! Guide to the Philly Sound with Jason Thornton.

Moore said the students at Drexel probably did not even know the importance of what they have done.

“But,” he said, “they should have our grateful thanks for what they do in ensuring this music can be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come.”

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

greeting – n. a message that expresses good wishes to someone

era – n. a period of time that is associated with a particular quality, event, person, etc.

conscious – adj. caring about something specified⁴

grateful – adj. feeling or showing thanks to someone for some helpful act

preserve – v. to keep (something) safe from harm or loss

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

3 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

4 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。