Ralph Rinzler (July 20, 1934 – July 2, 1994) was an American mandolin player, folksinger, and the co-founder of the annual

Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the F ...

on the Mall every summer in

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, where he worked as a curator for American art, music, and folk culture at the Smithsonian."Ralph C. Rinzler, 59, Smithsonian Official And Folk-Life Expert"
''The New York Times'', July 8, 1994 This festival was from the beginning and continues to be a major event for musicians, artistans, and craftsman from a broad variety of American culture, including African American, Native American, Appalachian, Southern, Western and other groups in the United States.

Biography

Ralph Rinzler grew up in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...

, United States. His father was a doctor of Russian-Jewish descent. While in High School, Rinzler became a friend and mentor to younger Passaic resident

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

. Rinzler went to

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

where he began performing as a

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

player in various folk music groups in the mid to late 1950s. After graduation, he went to New York City where he eventually became one of the famous

Greenbriar Boys The Greenbriar Boys were an American northern bluegrass music group. who first got together in jam sessions in New York's Washington Square Park. Biography In 1958, guitarist and vocalist John Herald formed The Greenbriar Boys, along with Bob Y ...

, a popular folk group that was the main event at Greenwich Village's

Gerde's Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village, part of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to presen ...

, with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

as his warm-up opening act. Rinzler and the Greenbriar Boys recorded several successful records and played many concerts and clubs up and down the East Coast. He also played on a lot of other people's albums, including

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

, Clarence Ashley, and won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for his work as a producer. At the same time Rinzler was also a diligent

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

, who helped bring new artists into Folk Revival scene, such as

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...

Hazel Dickens Hazel Jane Dickens (June 1, 1925 – April 22, 2011) was an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, double bassist and guitarist. Her music was characterized not only by her high, lonesome singing style, but also by her provocative pro- unio ...

, and others. He got a job at the Smithsonian where he became an influential curator, producer, promoter, champion, writer, and advocate of important and beautiful American folk music from all cultures. Rinzler's prominent role in the Festival and at the Center for Folklife Programs prompted the Smithsonian Institution to name the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections in his honor in 1998.

References

External links

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections"Ralph Rinzler, Folklorist: Professional Biography"
Richard Gagne, Tougaloo College {{DEFAULTSORT:Rinzler, Ralph 1934 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Passaic, New Jersey Grammy Award winners Smithsonian Institution people Swarthmore College alumni Jewish American musicians American people of Russian-Jewish descent American folklorists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American Jews