Carrie Newcomer plays at McCabe's on Friday, March 12 at 8:00pm
Photo by Jim McGuire
Carrie Newcomer is not so much a hit maker as she is a
legacy-maker. And it's quite a legacy she's been creating; a flow of songs that
stream down from her life as a writer, philosopher, peace activist,
conservationist and a silence-practicing Quaker. 'Pay attention' she says, and
so doing, miracles emerge in an abundance of small ways. Her peace-activism is
not about the absence of war, but the presence of a grace everyone can
experience each day by practicing what she refers to as 'the greatest law,
love.'
Her current tour in support of her new album, Before & After, follows a good will
mission to India where she shared her music and participated in the daily life
of the people there. As she spoke on the phone from her Indiana home she
elaborated on her philosophy and the influences behind her legacy of songs that
serve to point her audience toward a deeper appreciation of their everyday
lives.
A celebration of Rounder Records' 40th anniversary, with Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bela Fleck, Irma Thomas, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas and jazz-R&B pianist Henry Butler.
Broadway actress and singer,
award-winning recording artist and critically-acclaimed Bluegrass powerhouse
vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called by BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED "...an
important voice on the California Bluegrass scene." A native Tennessean,
Susie grew up in the shadow of the Grand Ole Opry, learning the craft of
country and bluegrass from a short distance by regular immersion of Flatt &
Scruggs, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn among others. When just 16 she sang for
her brother Rick's writer's nights song showcases in Nashville.
New York audiences saw Susie's Broadway
debut when she played the role of the young Southern matriarch Mary Jane Wilkes
in the original
Lucy Kaplansky started out singing in Chicago bars. Then,
barely out of high school, she took off for New York City. There she found a
fertile community of songwriters and performers - Suzanne Vega, John Gorka,
Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and others - where she fit right in. With a
beautiful flair for harmony, Lucy was everyone's favorite singing partner, but
most often she found herself singing as a duo with Shawn Colvin. People
envisioned big things for them; in fact, The New York Times said it was
"easy to predict stardom for her." But then Lucy dropped it all.
Stacey and Mark have recorded 32 acoustic versions of songs
performed over the last 16 years.
It comes after receiving an overwhelmingly warm response to the acoustic
version bonus CD of their 2003 duo release, Never
Gonna Let You Go. Stacey and Mark: "We are thinking, maybe, it is what the
audience wants and we aim to please. Folks come to the show; they ask if we
have something that sounded like us that night. Let's call it a souvenir. It
seems we have become songwriters, live performers, then recording artists in
that order."
Judy Collins has thrilled audiences worldwide with her
unique blend of interpretative folksongs and contemporary themes. Her
impressive career has spanned more than 40 years. At 13, Judy Collins made her
public debut performing Mozart's Concerto
for Two Pianos but it was the music of such artists as Woody Guthrie and
Pete Seeger, as well as the traditional songs of the folk revival, that sparked
Judy Collins' love of lyrics. She soon moved away from the classical piano and
began her lifelong love with the guitar. In 1961, Judy Collins released her
first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow,
at the age of 22 and began a thirty-five year association with Jac Holzman and
Elektra Records.
Singer/songwriter Noel Paul Stookey has been altering both
the musical and ethical landscape of this country and the world for
decades-both as the "Paul" of the legendary Peter,
Paul and Mary and as an independent musician who passionately believes in
bringing the spiritual into the practice of daily life. Funny, irreverently
reverent, thoughtful, compassionate-passionate-Stookey's vocal sound is known all
across this land: from the Wedding Song
to In These Times.
From his early days in Bamako when he was playing in a trio
together with Toumani Diabate and Keletigui Diabate till today where he is
pursuing his own career, Bassekou has transformed the traditional music of the
ngoni into the modern world of today. With his band ngoni ba he has created a
new lineup as a quartet with a band's style of playing. The ngonis they play
are still acoustic as in the old days, but Bassekou invented a bass ngoni even
lower in pitch than the ngoni ba (low ngoni), and added extra strings to make
their instruments harmonically more flexible. In the process Bassekou opened up
the magic of an age-old music that he and his band have been playing for their
entire lives, to people all over the world.
Chris Stuart, lead singer and rhythm guitarist .is a
songwriter who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where his mother was a school
teacher and his father a minister. Chris and Ivan Rosenberg were co-writers of
the 2009 IBMA Song of the Year, Don't
Throw Mama's Flowers Away as recorded by Dan Paisley & the Southern
Grass. Chris won first-prize at the Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest
in both bluegrass and gospel categories, and his songs have been recorded by
many top artists such as Claire Lynch, Dale Ann Bradley, Doyle Lawson, Bobby
Osborne, Michael Cleveland, Larry Cordle, Dan Paisley, Suzanne Thomas, and
Sally Jones.
A Conversation with Professor Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje
By Audrey Coleman
Last October I attended an international symposium at UCLA
called the Dialogue in Music Project: Africa
Meets North America. Hosted by the UCLA
Department of Ethnomusicology with Department
Chair Dr. Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje at the helm,
the four-day event brought scholars from as far as Pretoria,
South Africa into contact
with academics from Southern California and other parts of the U.S.
and other continents. Lectures, performances, panels, and social gatherings explored such varied subjects as African gourd roots of the American banjo, the state of African art music, the marketing of African popular music, the effects of the colonial period on the development of African musical idioms, a method for teaching polyrhythmic percussion using tap dance, and hip-hop in Senegal, to name a few. Although I took copious notes and interviewed several presenters, I confess to feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of crafting an article on the symposium for FolkWorks.
There's no folk like Quaker folk. On the cover of Carrie
Newcomer's new CD, Before & After, she is illustrated in warm sunset
colors on a train. The window shows a scene outside; a golden sun and several
birds in flight. And there is Carrie, busy writing on a pad of paper with book
in hand, her feet relaxed on the seat across from her. It is a serene portrait
of an artist at work with her inspirations around her.
And what is inside the album demonstrates a quality equal to
the cover art. An artist at work in her element, deepening her art, fine tuning
her observations of the ordinary and always with her hand on the pulse of the
spiritual cravings of the human soul.
Sylvia
Herold is probably the best folksinger you've never heard of. This dynamic
and sophisticated vocalist, from the East Bay area of San Francisco, is leader
of the folk ensemble known as Euphonia.
The group also features mandolinist Paul Kotapish, box player Charlie Hancock,
and double bassist Chuck Ervin, and guests. Their material ranges from acoustic
swing to traditional Celtic, and anything goes in between, but it's all pretty.
Euphonia's latest release is The Old
Jawbone, which as far as I can tell is their second offering, although
Sylvia has other recordings on her website.
Lucy Kaplansky started out singing in Chicago bars. Then,
barely out of high school, she took off for New York City. There she found a
fertile community of songwriters and performers - Suzanne Vega, John Gorka,
Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and others - where she fit right in. With a
beautiful flair for harmony, Lucy was everyone's favorite singing partner, but
most often she found herself singing as a duo with Shawn Colvin. People
envisioned big things for them; in fact, The New York Times said it was
"easy to predict stardom for her." But then Lucy dropped it all.
Stacey and Mark have recorded 32 acoustic versions of songs
performed over the last 16 years. 
Judy Collins has thrilled audiences worldwide with her
unique blend of interpretative folksongs and contemporary themes. Her
impressive career has spanned more than 40 years. At 13, Judy Collins made her
public debut performing Mozart's Concerto
for Two Pianos but it was the music of such artists as Woody Guthrie and
Pete Seeger, as well as the traditional songs of the folk revival, that sparked
Judy Collins' love of lyrics. She soon moved away from the classical piano and
began her lifelong love with the guitar. In 1961, Judy Collins released her
first album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow,
at the age of 22 and began a thirty-five year association with Jac Holzman and
Elektra Records.
Singer/songwriter Noel Paul Stookey has been altering both
the musical and ethical landscape of this country and the world for
decades-both as the "Paul" of the legendary Peter,
Paul and Mary and as an independent musician who passionately believes in
bringing the spiritual into the practice of daily life. Funny, irreverently
reverent, thoughtful, compassionate-passionate-Stookey's vocal sound is known all
across this land: from the Wedding Song
to In These Times.
From his early days in Bamako when he was playing in a trio
together with Toumani Diabate and Keletigui Diabate till today where he is
pursuing his own career, Bassekou has transformed the traditional music of the
ngoni into the modern world of today. With his band ngoni ba he has created a
new lineup as a quartet with a band's style of playing. The ngonis they play
are still acoustic as in the old days, but Bassekou invented a bass ngoni even
lower in pitch than the ngoni ba (low ngoni), and added extra strings to make
their instruments harmonically more flexible. In the process Bassekou opened up
the magic of an age-old music that he and his band have been playing for their
entire lives, to people all over the world.
Chris Stuart, lead singer and rhythm guitarist .is a
songwriter who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where his mother was a school
teacher and his father a minister. Chris and Ivan Rosenberg were co-writers of
the 2009 IBMA Song of the Year, Don't
Throw Mama's Flowers Away as recorded by Dan Paisley & the Southern
Grass. Chris won first-prize at the Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest
in both bluegrass and gospel categories, and his songs have been recorded by
many top artists such as Claire Lynch, Dale Ann Bradley, Doyle Lawson, Bobby
Osborne, Michael Cleveland, Larry Cordle, Dan Paisley, Suzanne Thomas, and
Sally Jones.
There's no folk like Quaker folk. On the cover of Carrie
Newcomer's new CD, Before & After, she is illustrated in warm sunset
colors on a train. The window shows a scene outside; a golden sun and several
birds in flight. And there is Carrie, busy writing on a pad of paper with book
in hand, her feet relaxed on the seat across from her. It is a serene portrait
of an artist at work with her inspirations around her.
Sylvia
Herold
