Jeff Place

Jeff Place (born 1956) is the Grammy Award-winning writer and producer and a curator and senior archivist with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.[1][2][3][4] He has won three Grammy Awards and six Indie Awards.[5][2][4]

Early life

Place learned his appreciation for folk music from his parents who took him to Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary concerts when he was a child.[4] He attended Kenyon College, graduating in 1979.[6] After college, Place worked in a record store in Washington, D.C. and started writing reviews for the store's magazine, REVUE.[4]

He then enrolled in the University of Maryland, receiving an Master of Library Science with a specialization in sound archives.[4][1]

Career

After graduate school, Place started working at the Smithsonian Institution.[4] In 1988, Place and Anthony "Tony" Seeger were the first two full-time employees at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage when the Smithsonian acquired Folkways Records from the estate of Moses Asch.[3][1] In 1989, he started writing liner notes for the Folkways albums.[4] He has also written companion books for special releases and box sets.[7]

Place has been involved in the compilation of more than sixty albums of American music for Smithsonian Folkways.[1] He won three Grammy Awards, two (Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album) in 1997 for Anthology of American Folk Music - 1997 Expanded Edition, and one (Producer) for Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Collection in 2019.[5][2] He received Grammy-nominations for four other productions (eight nominations total).[5][2] He also received six Indie Awards.[2]

Place helped curate several exhibitions, including This Land is Your Land about Woodie Guthrie.[1]

Awards and honors

Personal life

Place has lived in Mayo, Maryland since 1997.[4]

Discography
  • Folkways: The Original Vision. Smithsonian Folkways, 1989 (co-producer)
  • Doc Watson. The Doc Watson Family. Smithsonian Folkways, 1990 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Music in the Glen: The 1990 Washington Irish Festival. Washington Irish Festival, 1990 (producer)
  • Roots of Rhythm and Blues: A Tribute to the Robert Johnson Era. Columbia, 1992 (production assistant)
  • Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley. Original Folkways Recordings of Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley. Smithsonian Folkways, 1994 (co-producer)
  • Woody Guthrie. Long Ways to Travel (The Unreleased Woody Guthrie Sessions). Smithsonian Folkways, 1994 (co-producer and liner notes).
  • Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and The Almanac Singers. That's Why We're Marching: World War II and the American Folk Song Movement. Smithsonian Folkways, 1996 (producer and liner notes)
  • Lead Belly. Where Did You Sleep Last Night?: The Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 1. Smithsonian Folkways, 1996 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Woody Guthrie. Ballads of Sacco and Vanzetti. Smithsonian Folkways, 1996 (co-compiler of reissue)
  • Woody Guthrie. This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Vol. 1. Smithsonian Folkways, 1997 (co-producer and liner notes)[3]
  • Lead Belly. The Bourgeois Blues: The Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 2. Smithsonian/Folkways, 1997 (liner notes and producer)
  • Anthology of American Folk Music (expanded edition). Smithsonian Folkways, 1997 (liner notes and co-producer)
  • Woody Guthrie. Muleskinner Blues: The Asch Recordings Vol. 2. Smithsonian Folkways, 1997 (co-producer and liner notes)[3]
  • Lead Belly. Shout On: The Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 3. Smithsonian Folkways, 1998 (producer and liner notes)
  • Josh White. Free and Equal Blues. Smithsonian /Folkways, 1998 (compiler)
  • Woody Guthrie. Hard Traveling: The Asch Recordings Vol. 3. Smithsonian Folkways, 1998 (co-producer and liner notes)[3]
  • Woody Guthrie. Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings Vol. 4.. Smithsonian Folkways, 1999 (co-producer and liner notes)[3]
  • Various Artists.The Harry Smith Connection: A Live Tribute to the Anthology of American Folk Music. Smithsonian Folkways, 1998 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Lead Belly. Lead Belly Sings for Children. Smithsonian Folkways, 1999. (reissue compiler and liner notes)[3]
  • Woody Guthrie. The Asch Recordings (4 CD boxed set). Smithsonian Folkways, 1999. (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Big Bill Broonzy. Trouble in Mind. Smithsonian Folkways, 2000 (producer and liner notes)
  • Various Artists. The Best of Broadside (5-CD box set). Smithsonian Folkways, 2000. (co-producer and co-author of 160-page book)[3]
  • Fast Folk: A Community of Singers and Songwriters. Smithsonian Folkways, 2002 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Bluegrass on Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2002 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. America's Favorite Ballads, vol. 1. Smithsonian Folkways, 2002 (co-producer and liner notes)[3]
  • Pete Seeger. America's Favorite Ballads, vol. 2. Smithsonian Folkways, 2003 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Mountain Songs from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2002 (producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Old-Time Music from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2003 (producer and liner notes)
  • Spain in My Heart: Songs of the Spanish Civil War. Appleseed, 2003 (liner notes)
  • Classic Maritime Music from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2004 (producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Folk from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2004 (producer and liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. America's Favorite Ballads, Vol. 3. Smithsonian Folkways, 2004 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Bluegrass from Smithsonian Folkways, Vol. 2. Smithsonian Folkways, 2005 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Folkways: The Original Vision, revised edition. Smithsonian Folkways, 2005 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Railroad Songs from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2006 (producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2006 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Down Home Saturday Night. Smithsonian Folkways, 2006 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. America's Favorite Ballads, Vol. 4. Smithsonian Folkways, 2006 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Harry Smith Project, Live (boxed set). Shout Factory, 2006 (liner notes)
  • Classic Old-Time Fiddle from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2007 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • If You Ain’t Got the Do-Re-Mi: Songs of Rags and Riches. Smithsonian Folkways, 2007 (Co-producer and liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. America's Favorite Ballads, Vol. 5. Smithsonian Folkways, 2007 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. America's Favorite Ballads (boxed set). Smithsonian Folkways, 2009 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Piano Blues from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2008 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Protest Songs from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways 2009 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • John Jackson. Rappahannock Blues. Smithsonian Folkways, 2009 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. Live at Bowdoin College. Smithsonian Folkways, 2012 (producer and liner notes)
  • Classic American Ballads from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2015 (producer and liner notes)
  • Classic Appalachian Blues from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2009 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Ola Belle Reed and family. Rising Sun Melodies. Smithsonian Folkways, 2010 (producer and liner notes)
  • Chip Taylor. Golden Kids Rules. Smithsonian Folkways, 2011 (liner notes)
  • Classic Harmonica Blues. Smithsonian Folkways, 2012 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Woody Guthrie. Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection. Smithsonian Folkways, 2012 (Co-author of companion book and producer)[3]
  • Classic African-American Songsters. Smithsonian Folkways, 2014 (co-producer and liner notes)[3]
  • Dave Van Ronk. Down in Washington Square: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection. Smithsonian Folkways, 2013 (producer and annotator)
  • Classic Banjo from Smithsonian Folkways. Smithsonian Folkways, 2013 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Lead Belly. Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection. Smithsonian Folkways, 2014 (co-producer and author of companion book)[6][7]
  • Classic American Ballads. Smithsonian Folkways, 2015 (producer and liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Centennial Collection. Smithsonian Folkways, 2019 (co-producer and author of companion book)
  • Classic Folk Songs for Children. Smithsonian Folkways, 2015 (producer and liner notes)
  • Classic English and Scottish Ballads from the Frances James Child Collection. Smithsonian Folkways, 2017 (producer and liner notes)
  • Woody Guthrie. Roll Columbia: Woody Guthrie's 26 Northwest Songs. Smithsonian Folkways, 2017 (liner notes)
  • Dan Zanes and friends. Lead Belly, Baby! Smithsonian Folkways, 2017 (liner notes)
  • Barbara Dane. Hot Jazz, Cool Blues, and Hard-Hitting Songs. Smithsonian Folkways, 2017 (co-producer and liner notes)
  • Epilogue: A Tribute to John Duffey. Smithsonian Folkways, 2018 (liner notes)
  • Pete Seeger. Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Centennial Collection (book and six-CD box set). Smithsonian Folkways, 2019 (co-producer and author)[12]
  • Jazz Fest: The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (5-CD set and book). Smithsonian Folkways, 2019. (co-author and producer)
  • The Social Power of Music (4-CD set and book). Smithsonian Folkways, 2019 (co-author and producer)
  • A Living Tradition: A Selection from Folk-Legacy Records. Smithsonian Folkways, 2019 (liner notes)
  • Take Me Back to the Range: Selections from the Western Jubilee Recording Company. Smithsonian Folkways, 2020 (liner notes)
  • The Village Out West: The Lost Tapes of Alan Oakes. Smithsonian Folkways, 2021 (co-producer and liner notes

References
  1. "Smithsonian Folkways Staff | Smithsonian Folkways". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  2. "Spotlight: Mayo resident receives eighth Grammy nomination in 2020". Capital Gazette. 2019-12-26. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  3. "Interview: Jeff Place, Producer At Smithsonian Folkways". Folk Renaissance. 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  4. Price, Lilly. "Mayo resident receives 8th Grammy nomination in 2020 - Baltimore Sun". digitaledition.baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  5. "All GRAMMY Awards and Nominations for Jeff Place". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  6. Sacks, Judy (Fall 2015). "Book Reviews: A Titan of American Music". Kenyon Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  7. Ruehl, Kim (February 17, 2015). "Digging Into Lead Belly's America: An Interview with Smithsonian Folkways' Jeff Place". No Depression: The Journal of Roots Music. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  8. "Brenda McCallum Prize". The American Folklore Society. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  9. "10th Annual Independent Music Awards Winners Announced!". Independent Music Awards. 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  10. "THE 16TH INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED". Independent Music Awards. 2018-04-02. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  11. Leimkuehler, Matthew (September 26, 2019). "2019 Bluegrass Music Awards: A complete list of winners". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  12. Cronin, Brian PJ (2019-05-03). "5 Questions: Jeff Place". The Highlands Current. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
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