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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZRINZLER, Ralph(b '34 Passaic NJ; d 2 July '94) Musician, folklorist, academic, visionary, and founding director of the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Program. Rinzler studied at Middlebury College and the Sorbonne. His academic work and inspirational importance matched that of A.L. Lloyd, John and Alan Lomax, Charles Seeger and others on both sides of the Atlantic. Played mandolin with the Greenbriar Boys, recording for Vanguard during '60s; they were among the leading lights of the American folk scene, beacons in the folk darkness, like the New Lost City Ramblers inspiring a new generation to look to the white American folk culture. Rinzler acted as director of the Field Research Programs at the Newport Folk Foundation '63-7, after which he joined the Smithsonian. Went on to establish the Cultural Education Committee and Committee for a Wider Audience as well as founding the National Demonstration Laboratory and pushing successfully for the acquisition of Folkways Records' peerless and huge catalogue and archives on the death of Mo Asch. Rinzler won a Grammy as producer of Folkways: A Vision Shared; Roots of Rhythm and Blues, a tribute to the history-making label. Rinzler's legacy lives on in many different guises in the many musicians who were bitten by the Rinzler bug. |