We cordially invite you to the lecture from the cycle Dialogo della musica, which will be given by Greg Johnson (University, Mississippi) on the topic of Capturing the Moment: Live Performance Recordings as Primary Source.
The lecture will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2026 at 5 pm in the Musicological library IAH, Puškinovo nám. 9, Prague 6.
Live music performances often present a wealth of valuable information beyond studio-recorded works. Responding to varying interactions from audiences, musicians are sometimes inspired to take extended instrumental solos, modify lyrics to address current events, or simply play music with different energies. Live musical performances captured on audio or video recordings expand the list of primary resources available to researchers. For over forty years, the Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi has collected live performance recordings in a variety of audiovisual formats. Blues Curator Greg Johnson will speak about the Archive’s work collecting performance recordings as well as their own internal measures to directly document concerts. This talk also addresses efforts to make these recordings more broadly accessible through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Finally, the discussion examines how these recordings expand our understanding of regional styles and musical cross-influences around the world.
Greg Johnson is Head of Special Collections, Blues Curator, and Professor in the University of Mississippi Libraries, where he has worked since 2002. He is the co-author of 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), which won the Association for Recorded Sound Collections award for “Best Historical Research in Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues,” and was also the recipient of the Music Library Association’s “Vincent H. Duckles Award.” He was the consulting editor for the Encyclopedia of the Blues (Routledge, 2006).