Friday, April 2, 2010
FAIR LAWN The Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club concert series at the
Fair Lawn Community Center will present a "Phil Ochs Song Night," an
evening commemorating the life and music of the legendary 1960's
protest singer, hosted by his sister Sonny Ochs Saturday, April 10 at
8 p.m. Performers will include Magpie, Kim and Reggie Harris, Greg
Greenway, John Flynn and Jen Cass.
Phil Ochs came to public attention during the folk revival of the
1960's. He wrote more than 100 songs and released eight albums in his
lifetime with songs about Vietnam, civil rights, the Kennedys and
other topics inspired by the headlines of the day. He sold out
concerts at Carnegie Hall and venues across the country, and often
was found singing for political causes, civil rights marches,
anti-war rallies, and labor events. In the early 1970's he began to
suffer from manic depression and he took his own life in 1976.
To keep his music alive, and to recognize contemporary musicians who
perform their own songs with the same spirit that motivated Phil
Ochs, his sister Sonny began organizing "Phil Ochs Song Nights" in
1983. Originally an annual event that was held in Greenwich Village
nightclubs Folk City, Speakeasy and the Bottom Line, Sonny has began
taking the event to other cities and venues across the nation
including the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage and the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Each "Phil Ochs Song Night" features a number of nationally known
folk musicians and singer-songwriters, and the evening at the Hurdy
Gurdy will also offer a diverse lineup.
Magpie consists of Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, a husband-and-wife
duo who met while attending Kent State University in 1973. Their
repertoire of largely topical songs encompasses traditional and
contemporary folk, jazz, blues, country and ragtime styles, and
includes many original compositions.
Kim and Reggie Harris have performed original contemporary folk music
and traditional African-American spiritual and freedom songs for
almost 30 years. They are unique in their ability to entertain
audiences of any age and background as they blend their talents as
singers, songwriters, educators, interpreters of history and cultural
advocates. Greg Greenway has been described as "one of the strongest,
and finest voices in folk music" by the Boston Globe. He draws
inspiration from a variety of styles -gospel, rock, blues, Jazz, and
world music. But his center is in the singer/songwriter tradition
that traces its roots back to the social awareness of Woody Guthrie.
John Flynn's artistic journey has taken him from Temple University,
where he earned a degree in Political Science, to Nashville's Music
Row as a songwriter, to award-winning children's recording artist and
performer, to social justice activist. He was invited by Arlo Guthrie
to join his Train to New Orleans tour post-Hurricane Katrina, and
Kris Kristofferson has not only sung on two of his CDs, but has given
him previously unrecorded material to use.
The Fair Lawn Community Center is located at 10-10 20th St. in Fair
Lawn. Tickets for this concert are only $20 ($17 for Hurdy Gurdy
members) and can be purchased online at www.hurdygurdyfolk.org or at
the box office at the Fair Lawn Community Center on the night of the concert.
Additional information can be received at the Web site or by calling
the Hurdy Gurdy hotline at 201-384-1325.
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