Beacon – It was a rare chance to see the man many refer to as the greatest living American musician. It was an opportunity to come together and connect while sharing in the diverse gifts of the holiday season. It was a time to listen to an eclectic mix of talented area musicians.

No wonder the 15^th Annual “Holiday Hoot” concert, held at the Howland Cultural Center, drew a standing-room-only audience Saturday night. Once again, that musical holiday ensemble was hosted and produced by musician and Beacon resident Christopher Ruhe, who could also be found playing the guitar and singer on center stage. The attendance, along with overall spirit of Saturday’s Hoot, could not have left Ruhe more pleased.

“This was the best Holiday Hoot, the most harmonious and loving, as so many things happened, such as cultural diversity, celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanza as well as Christmas and having people perform from all different backgrounds,” said Ruhe. “This is the time of the year all about the spirit, giving and not receiving.”

Amongst that varied and talented roster on hand that provided that selfless giving were Goldee Greene. Sitting on a stool, guitar in hand, Greene sang a melody she wrote. Involving the audience with accompanying clapping, Greene energetically sang the catchy lyrics, “Peace on Earth and let it begin with you.”

Soon after, a unique quartet of musicians, the Cabo family, performed. Composed of mom on guitar, sons on guitar and singing and daughter who played the piano and also sang, the family provided three holiday melodies, each met with approval by the packed audience.

The Rivertown Kids, a group of youngsters who regularly perform environmentally conscious songs, also graced the stage. The group of about twelve Beacon youngsters could be heard singing the lyrics, “Sing for peace it won’t be long” during their first number. Another melody contained the phrase, “We sing loud, so our voices can be heard.”

Other performers providing entertainment throughout the two-hour evening of non-stop music, included; Sue Altkin & Friends, Reverend Alvin Bell, David and Jacob Bernz, Marvin Cooke, New Vision Church of Deliverance Choir and of course headliner, Pete Seeger, who put an exclamation on the nights’ united, festive musical gathering.

The 92-year-old Seeger, equipped with his banjo, took to the stage, and immediately spoke to the audience. Alluding to a 140 year old Christmas tune that originated in Whales, Seeger provided the premise for his first number, “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly.” The legendary folk icon related further historical details about the background of two more of his holiday tunes. After a few solo pieces, Seeger joined all the other performers on stage in the grand finale numbers. It wasn’t long before Seeger could be spotted doing what he does best, leading and uniting. Waving his hands in the air, he turned to his fellow musicians, and directed. They responded. So too, did the large audience. As singing, dancing and cheer filled the Howland Cultural Center, it was evident just how potent Seeger’s ability to unite all people using the power of music really is. His enduring humility is equally impressive.

“Thank you very much for asking me here,” said a smiling Seeger after his concluding solo number. “I hardly sing anymore, as I’m up in the mountains, cutting wood and helping out my family, but I’m just so happy to be able to be here with you tonight.”

http://www.hvpress.net/news/122/ARTICLE/10629/2011-12-14.html

Pete Seeger is 92 and a half years old. Yet he has recorded Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”  for the upcoming Amnesty International album “Chimes of Freedom.” The album, a four disc set, will be released on January 24, 2012, to benefit the important human rights organization.

There are 80 tracks, with twenty or more from artists that are very unknown. But the big stars are great– Carly Simon, Sting, Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Marianne Faithfull, Jeff Beck with Seal, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Paul Rodgers and Nils Lofgren.

Actress Evan Rachel Wood, who sang in Julie Taymor’s “Across the Universe” and almost did in Taymor’s Broadway “Spider Man,” sings a song Dylan wrote with  George Harrison in 1968; it appeared on Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” album–”I’d Have You Anytime.” Some of the tracks were organized by my old pal, Martin Lewis, who’s been an Amnesty stalwart for a long time and knows his music. I’m particularly keen to hear K’Naan, my new favorite performer, do “With God on Our Side.” I am not so keen to hear Kesha, Miley Cyrus, or Darren Criss from “Glee.” (Concessions to the commercial are wince inducing.)

And where is Bruce Springsteen? That seems like a glaring omission. So are Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, and Paul Simon.

But the Pete Seeger track should be just thrilling. It balances out the weird ones (aforementioned) and gives us all hope. We can only hope that the Grammy show on February 12th will feature a big segment devoted to this collection (with Kesha, Cyrus, and Criss relegated to the background).

DISC 1

Raphael Saadiq – Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

Patti Smith – Drifter’s Escape

Rise Against – Ballad of Hollis Brown

Tom Morello The Nightwatchman – Blind Willie McTell

Pete Townshend -Corrina, Corrina

Bettye LaVette – Most of the Time

Charlie Winston -This Wheel’s On Fire

Diana Krall – Simple Twist of Fate

Brett Dennen -You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Mariachi El Bronx – Love Sick

Ziggy Marley – Blowin’ in the Wind

The Gaslight Anthem – Changing of the Guards

Silversun Pickups – Not Dark Yet

My Morning Jacket – You’re A Big Girl Now

The Airborne Toxic Event – Boots of Spanish Leather

Sting – Girl from the North Country

Mark Knopfler – Restless Farewell

DISC 2

Queens Of The Stone Age – Outlaw Blues

Lenny Kravitz – Rainy Day Woman # 12 & 35

Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli – One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)

Blake Mills – Heart Of Mine

Miley Cyrus – You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

Billy Bragg -Lay Down Your Weary Tune

Elvis Costello -License to Kill

Angelique Kidjo – Lay, Lady, Lay

Natasha Bedingfield – Ring Them Bells

Jackson Browne -Love Minus Zero/No Limit

Joan Baez – Seven Curses (Live)

The Belle Brigade – No Time To Think

Sugarland – Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You (Live)

Jack’s Mannequin – Mr. Tambourine Man

Oren Lavie – 4th Time Around

Sussan Deyhim – All I Really Want To Do

Adele – Make You Feel My Love (Recorded Live at WXPN)

DISC 3

K’NAAN – With God On Our Side

Ximena Sariñana – I Want You

Neil Finn with Pajama Club – She Belongs to Me

Bryan Ferry – Bob Dylan’s Dream

Zee Avi – Tomorrow Is A Long Time

Carly Simon – Just Like a Woman

Flogging Molly – The Times They Are A-Changin’

Fistful Of Mercy – Buckets Of Rain

Joe Perry – Man Of Peace

Bad Religion – It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

My Chemical Romance – Desolation Row (Live)

RedOne featuring Nabil Khayat – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

Paul Rodgers & Nils Lofgren – Abandoned Love

Darren Criss featuring Chuck Criss and Freelance Whales – New Morning

Cage the Elephant – The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

Band of Skulls – It Ain’t Me, Babe

Sinéad O’Connor – Property of Jesus

Ed Roland and The Sweet Tea Project – Shelter From The Storm

Ke$ha – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Kronos Quartet – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

DISC 4

Maroon 5 – I Shall Be Released

Carolina Chocolate Drops – Political World

Seal & Jeff Beck – Like A Rolling Stone

Taj Mahal – Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream

Dierks Bentley – Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) (Live)

Mick Hucknall – One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)

Thea Gilmore – I’ll Remember You

State Radio – John Brown

Dave Matthews Band – All Along the Watchtower (Live)

Michael Franti – Subterranean Homesick Blues

We Are Augustines – Mama, You Been On My Mind

Lucinda Williams – Tryin’ To Get To Heaven

Kris Kristofferson – Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)

Eric Burdon -Gotta Serve Somebody

Evan Rachel Wood – I’d Have You Anytime

Marianne Faithfull – Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Live)

Pete Seeger – Forever Young

Bob Dylan – Chimes Of Freedom

DIGITAL ONLY

Outernational – When The Ship Comes In

Silverstein -Song To Woody

Daniel Bedingfield – Man In The Long Black Coat

20 November, 3PM

Haldane Room

Wolfson College

“When was the last time you sung?

Published: Sunday, November 6, 2011

Updated: Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Perhaps everyone was spoiled by the ‘60s. A miraculous confluence of artists such as Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs and Joan Baez lent their voices to the anti-war and civil rights movements. Certain songs became anthems and rallying cries for an entire generation fed up with the inequalities that surrounded them.

Songs like “We Shall Overcome,” “Give Peace a Chance,” and “Blowin’ in the Wind,” were widely heard at protests, marches, sit-ins and on the radio. Maybe the message was more easily grasped because it was framed literally in terms of black and white.

The Occupy Wall Street movement has been catching flack for not having a unifying theme or a specific list of demands. The times may have changed, but the universal themes of greed and selfishness are just as relevant today as they were 40 years ago. For a social movement to gather steam and really go global, history has shown it helps to have your message set to music.

In some drum circles it’s Occupy Wall Street’s lack of great protest songs that is drawing criticism. The current employment and financial crisis might not be easily summed up in verse. It is hard to find a convenient rhyme for the words “credit default swaps” or “financial derivatives” after all.

Old Town Folk School’s Resource Center manager, Colby Maddox, is the kind of guy you would never want to be up against in a music trivia game. He would destroy you, mercilessly, and with a smile. He believes that protest songs have a place our day and age, but the overriding societal issues are radically different and the stakes are nowhere near as high. “In the ‘60s, there was the danger of being drafted and dying,” he said. “That will really color your outlook on things.”

So where is the next Bob Dylan or Joan Baez? Joe Tessone of the Industrial Workers of the World points in the direction of Tom Morello, former guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, and his current work, The Nightwatchmen. Tessone also recommends Billy Bragg and Conor Oberst. There’s some good music here, but will it ever hold up against “The Times They Are a-Changin’?”

There are many musical groups out there today voicing their anger with the establishment. They run the gamut from punk to hard rock to coffee house troubadours. Bands with names like Anti-Flag and Rise Against have claimed the megaphone and the microphone.

While popular in certain circles, these angry bands still haven’t gained the acclaim and the popularity of their ‘60s predecessors. Anger can turn people off. “Folk music has a politeness to it,” Maddox says. “It’s ‘I’m angry and I’m in your living room but I might want to date your daughter so I’m reserved.’”

War certainly brings us together – whether for or against it. Artists such as Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Ben Harper and Sheryl Crow wrote anti-war songs about the Iraq War. Steve Earle even camped out at President Bush’s Crawford Ranch with guitar in hand. That war is finally set to come to an end, not due to public outrage or the actions of people in the streets, but due to politics and budget constraints. Maybe the times haven’t changed all that much.

Social media hasn’t given us our protest gurus. Instead, the internet’s crowning achievement thus far is Justin Bieber singing and longing for his “Baby.” Maddox points out a Chicago singer named Mark Dvorak and his song “I’m the 99″, which can be seen on Facebook and YouTube. It’s timely, earnest and his heart is on his sleeve. Let’s just say it lacks the seething steam of Dylan’s “Masters of War”.

Some of the folk legends are making their presence felt at the Occupy marches, as evidenced by 92-year-old Pete Seeger marching through Manhattan’s Upper West Side recently with two canes and chanting “We are unstoppable, another world is possible.” Joan Baez just played at Chicago’s Symphony Center last week. As for Bob Dylan, well, he never stopped touring. He just stopped enunciating.

There are a lot of artists still fighting the good fight armed with nothing more than a guitar and a vision of the way things ought to be. They have big shoes to fill but have resources that singers of the 60′s could only dream of. For now, the drums still beat and the people still chant and sing. The overriding question is: Will everyone listen?