Sunday, March 15, 2009

Billy Bragg on Phil Ochs

Another Folk DJ, Graham Rice of WJFF in the Catskills, posted information about a BBC program where "Billy Bragg looks at the life of Phil Ochs, who was part of the 1960s folk revival, a friend and rival of Bob Dylan, and co-instigator of the Chicago riots of 1968.

"You can hear it here (it starts after 1 min 45 secs):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/documentaries/philochsstillmarching.shtml

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Béla Fleck documentary tunes up banjo's image

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Béla Fleck, a New Yorker by birth and a banjo player by choice, has always been aware of the stereotypes. It's one reason he adapted the banjo to almost every musical genre imaginable, including classical, jazz, bluegrass, pop, country and folk. Fleck has won 10 Grammys (and been nominated in more Grammy categories than any other musician in history), so he's the ideal person to make a documentary about the history of the instrument - a history that leads to slavery and Africa, where Fleck traveled for five weeks with a film and recording crew.

"Throw Down Your Heart," which opens Friday at the Roxie Theater, is an eye-opener. Fleck plays with musicians in Uganda, Tanzania, the Gambia and Mali, often performing in public squares where children gather to witness the strange and beautiful instrument he's brought from America. In turn, Fleck is awestruck by their presence and the acoustic instruments he gets to accompany, including a 12-foot xylophone, a three-string lute called the akonting (which is a likely antecedent of the banjo) and palm-size pianos called mbiras.

"It's the coolest thing I've ever gotten to do," Fleck says in a phone interview. "It was the greatest adventure of my life."

The adventure wasn't without hitches - the biggest occurring when Fleck's record company pulled its sponsorship just weeks before Fleck and his crew were set to depart from the United States. Fleck ended up funding the trip himself, spending $100,000 for the cost of flying to and around Africa, filming, recording the performances for an album, and paying the singers and musicians he played with.

The rest is at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/07/PKHE164C69.DTL&type=movies

3/8/09 Playlist

1. Steve Martin with Vince Gill & Dolly Parton: Pretty Flowers (The Crow), self www.stevemartin.com
2. Caroline Doctorow: The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood (Another Country), Narrow Lane www.carolinedoctorow.com
3. Gideon Freudmann: Old Haunt (Sonic Surf), Octagon 208 www.cellobop.com
4. Kathy Mattea [at Jorgensen 3/20 & 3/21): The L & N Don't Stop Here Anymore (Coal), Thirty Tigers www.mattea.com

5. Liz Carroll & John Doyle: John Cahill's Jig / Tommy Doyle's (Double Play), Compass 4502 www.compassrecords.com
6. Jack Hardy & David Massengill: Losers (Partners in Crime), Great Divide www.jackhardy.com
7. Lisa Markley: Skylark (One Word), Soona Songs 013 www.soonasongs.com
8. Joe Crookston: Brooklyn in July (Able Baker Charlie & Dog), Milagrito 78 www.joecrookston.com

9. Denice Franke: Brand New Sky (Gulf Coast Blue), Certain Records 4 www.denicefranke.com
10. Houston Jones: Sleepy Armadillo (Calico Heart), Summerhill 004 www.houstonjones.com
11. Feufollet: Femme L'A Dit (Cow Island Hop), Valcour 5 www.feufollet.net
12. Jonathan Byrd: The Law & The Lonesome (The Law & The Lonesome), Waterbug 85 www.jonathanbyrd.com

Interview with Carrie Newcomer, recorded Friday 3/6/09 www.carrienewcomer.com:
13. There Is A Tree (The Geography of Light), Philo 1253
14. Geodes (live in studio)
15. Leaves Don't Drop, They Just Let Go (live in studio)
16. Silver (live in studio)
17. Be True (Regulars & Refugees), Philo

Throughout the show I gave away tix to Mattea's concert on March 20:
18. Kathy Mattea: Red-Winged Blackbird (Coal), Thirty Tigers www.mattea.com

How will you choose? All are playing in CT on 3/14:
19. Gordon Bok (CT Audubon Society): Wild Birds (And So Will We Yet), Folk-Legacy 116
20. Priscilla Herdman (Roaring Brook): Blue Boat Home (Into the Stars), Stardreamer 2001 www.priscillaherdman.com
21. Brian Peters (Branford Folk Society): Hind Horn (demo), self www.brian-peters.co.uk
22. Kallet / Epstein / Cicone (Sounding Board): Mammals (Only Human), Overall Music 2 www.cindykallet.com

The Dreaded Folk Calendar over selections from Liz Carroll & John Doyle's "Double Play," Compass 4502

A producer of one of WHUS's public affairs programs called in with the news that a women's delegation had been allowed in to Gaza -- she forwarded a report and I read it in honor of International Women's Day.
[http://codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=4747]

23. Kathy Mattea: You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive (Coal), Thirty Tigers www.mattea.com

These two songs have some musical similarities -- I forgot to bring in Bill Morrissey's "Birches," which would have fit very well between them.
24. Paul Sachs (Buttonwood Tree 3/13): Mean Streets (MP3), www.paulsachs.com
25. Anais Mitchell: Old Fashioned Hat (The Brightness), Righteous Babe 53 www.anaismitchell.com

Is YOUR state losing all sorts of human services in this economic meltdown?
27. Ian Robb: They're Taking It Away (From Different Angels), Fallen Angle 01 www.finestkind.ca
28. Garnet Rogers: Election Night: North Dakota (At A High Window), Snow Goose 1121 www.garnetrogers.com
29. Chip Taylor: Theme from An American Hero (New Songs of Freedom), Train wreck 0029 www.trainwreckrecords.com

30. Eliza Gilkyson et al (I forgot to cue up my usual closing song): Highway 9 (Land of Milk and Honey), Red House 174 www.redhouserecords.com

Thursday, March 5, 2009

John Cephas obit, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Legendary Piedmont blues guitarist John Cephas dies at 78

By Ellen Robertson, Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 5, 2009

John "Bowling Green" Cephas, the legendary Piedmont blues guitarist and baritone vocalist who was recently honored as a 2009 Library of Virginia African American Trailblazer, died Wednesday morning at home in Woodford in Caroline County.

The much-honored and widely traveled 78-year-old Washington native, who recently retired because of illness, had been unable to attend the library awards ceremony last week. He was breathing with the aid of oxygen in recorded remarks to the audience that said how touched he was by the honor.

Born into a deeply religious family, he took his nickname from the Virginia town of Bowling Green, where he was reared hearing gospel music. He grew up listening to his grandfather's stories of slave ancestors on the Eastern Shore and his mother's singing. He learned about the blues from a guitar-picking aunt. "Blues music is truth," Mr. Cephas once said.

He learned the alternating thumb-and-finger picking style that is the trademark of East Coast or Piedmont blues from his cousin, David Taleofero, a well-known Caroline County guitar player. Mr. Cephas began to imitate music he heard on records -- ragtime-era music and early Piedmont talents such as Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Blake, the Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Tampa Red influenced his style.

The complete article is at
http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/lifestyles/announcements/obituaries/article/JCOB05_20090304-222011/222068/

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

John Cephas dies

From a member of the Seattle Folklore Society:

"I was asked to help spread the word, after having gotten it on the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop list. I hate to inform you that John Cephas passed away earlier today. I don't have a lot of information, butI'm sure more will be coming in the near future."

I've searched for more information, but haven't found anything yet -- I'll send on whatever I find. Meantime, here's John teaching a little Skip James guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7vyhHe-u0o&feature=related

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

NYC Tribute to Odetta, 2/24/09

Listeners might remember my reading a note from Christine Lavin about the concert, urging listeners to go; *I* wanted to go!

Remembering Odetta, Who Sang of Freedom

By MELENA RYZIK, New York Times, February 26, 2009

The poet Maya Angelou sat perched on a tall stool in Riverside Church in Manhattan on Tuesday night, both mimicking and remembering the folk singer Odetta, her longtime friend, who died on Dec. 2 at 77.

“We were both tall black ladies with attitude, and most people were really scared of us,” Ms. Angelou told a crowd that filled the pews and balconies as Pete Seeger warmed up offstage. “To be in the ’50s, black and turned away from almost everything and to say, ‘I have come here to stay’ and to be a sister of somebody who had courage is no small matter.”

The occasion was a celebration of an artist who gave rhythm and voice to the civil rights era — who “sang us into freedom,” as Ms. Angelou put it. The event had both a neighborly and a historical feel. Many in the crowd were New Yorkers who had grown up to Odetta’s music, listening to her and her guitar in Greenwich Village coffeeshops, in concert halls or in Central Park. Born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Ala., she had made Manhattan her home.
Others came to honor her wider social and musical legacy, represented onstage by a who’s who of folk, blues and gospel musicians and other performers. Besides Mr. Seeger, there were Harry Belafonte, Geoffrey Holder, the singer and guitarist Steve Earle and the vocal group Sweet Honey in the Rock.

“Odetta would dig this,” Mr. Earle said, taking in the generations filling the 1,900 seats in the church’s cavernous Gothic nave. He performed “This Land Is Your Land” in an all-out jam with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, Tom Chapin, Josh White Jr. and Emory Joseph. It was one of several numbers that the audience joined in.

Mr. Belafonte gave perhaps the most stirring speech. “The paper would not yield,” he said of his effort to write down his remarks. “The ink blurred, because the space left by Odetta could not be easily verbalized.”

The rest is at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/arts/music/26odetta.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Remembering%20Odetta,%20Who%20Sang%20of%20Freedom&st=cse

and there's an available video on that page, with clips from Seeger, Earle, Belefonte, Angelou.

Monday, March 2, 2009

2/1/09 Playlist

1. Chris Stuart & Backcountry: Crooked Man (Crooked Man), Backcountry 842 www.chrisstuart.com
2. Burning Bridget Cleary: Cat's Meow (Everything Is Alright), self www.burningbridgetcleary.com
3. Rachael Davis: Sweetwater Sea (Antebellum Queens), Fox on A Hill 04 www.rachaeldavis.com

4. Marley's Ghost: Sugar Trade (Four Spacious Guys), self www.marleysghost.org
5. Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers: Calm Down (Songs in The Night), Ramseur 2727 www.ramseurrecords.net
6. The Victor Mourning: Zachariah (Fire Fire Demos), self www.thevictormourning.com
7. Naomi Sommers: Mama's House (Gentle As The Sun), American Melody 5124 www.naomisommers.com

8. Eric Brace & Peter Cooper: Omar's Blues #2 (You Don't Have to Like Them Both), Red Beet 009 www.redbeetrecords.com
9. Ana Egge: Carey's Waltz (Road to My Love), Grace / Parkinsong 45439 www.anaegge.com
10. The Avett Brothers: Murder in The City (The Gleam II), Ramseur 2724 www.theavettbrothers.com
11. Pete Huttlinger: I've Got Rhythm (Fingerstyle Guitar sampler # 54)
12. Dar Williams: Holly Tree (Promised Land), Razor & Tie 29962

Guest Stan Sullivan, in to promote his concert at Roaring Brook, with Jim Mercik, on Mar 7:
13. Mockingbird (live in studio)
14. Summertime (live)
15. Church Steeples (live)
16. Port Cafe (Do You Like the Rain), Sunnyland 2 (at concerts only)
17. Off Chatham Bars Break (live)

18. Kitty Donohoe: Winter Dark (Northern Border), Roheen 7 www.kittydonohoe.com
19. Trent Wagler & Jay Lapp: Whistle Blows (Adrienna Valentine), self www.trentwagler.com
20. Carrie Newcomer: Lazarus (The Geography of Light), Philo 1253 www.carrienewcomer.com
21. Paul Sachs (Buttonwood Tree 3/13): Mean Streets (MP3 download), self www.PaulSachs.com

I read little of "Military ends ban on coverage of war dead" by Julian E. Barnes, Tribune Newspapers
22. Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies: Dover Delaware (Sight Rhymes), promo www.jezlowe.com
23. Brad Yoder: Formerly / Guardian Angel (duo), promo www.bradyoder.com
24. Steve Quelet: Foxhole (House of Wax), self www.stevequelet.com
25. Darrell Scott / Danny Thompson / Kenny Malone: With A Memory Like Mine (Live in NC), Full Light 0403 www.darrellscott.com

The Dreaded Folk Calendar over selections from Pat Donohue's "Freewayman," Bluesky 929 www.patdonohue.com

26. Anais Mitchell: Santa Fe Dream (The Brightness), Righteous Babe 053 www.anaismitchell.com
27. James Talley: Santa Fe Blues (Heartsong), Cimarron 2008
28. Eliza Gilkyson: Lights of Santa Fe (Your Town Tonight), Red House 205 www.redhouserecords.com
29 & 30. Anais Mitchell: 1984 & Two Kids (Hymns for The Exiled), Waterbug 58 www.anaismitchell.com

31. Priscilla Herdman (Roaring Brook 3/14): Ideas Are Like Stars (Into the Stars), Stardreamer 1 www.priscillaherdman.com
32. Cindy Kallet / Ellen Epstein / Michael Cicone: Life Comes In & Swampie's Fancy / Househunting (Heart Walk), Overall OM 3 www.cindykallet.com
33. Carrie Newcomer: Don't Push Send (The Geography of Light), Philo
34. Eliza Gilkyson et al: Peace Call (Land of Milk and Honey), Red House 174 www.redhouserecords.com