Music of the Bailes in New Mexico (co-authors Reed Cooper, Aurora Lucero-White Lea, and Anita Gonzales Thomas) was Richard B Stark's third book, published in 1978. Ten years earlier Stark engaged Mansi McClure Kern (1924-2013), a folk musician and folk dance teacher who had moved to Santa Fe in 1963, to complete a survey of folk dance music in Northern New Mexico. This online exhibit draws heavily on Kern's research for Stark.
Kern met with musicians, learned about their lives, and collected their music. We've brought together 27 excerpts from the work she and Stark did together to introduce you to the musicians, the music, and the dances.
Funding for major parts of the original collection, for preservation and digitization, and for this online mini-exhibit was provided by the International Folk Art Foundation.