Black History Month: Music and Diversity II - Folk First: Black Roots Music

Features New York City musicians Vienna Carroll (vocals) and Keith (guitar). They will present early African American spirituals, work songs, and prison songs and explore their direct relationships to the music of contemporary artists such as the late rap icon Biggie Smalls and singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer Pharrell Williams.
“Before there was jazz or blues or gospel, there was Black folk music, the foundation of American music today. Come enjoy songs from a time when you had to make music to hear it. Songs from your Granny’s country church down South (or the little church you pass by right here in Harlem); songs from the vegetable man every Thursday; songs that helped our ancestors endure prison and escape slavery; songs of joy. Let’s make those connections to today. Enjoy, join in, sing and dance with us.”
Vienna Carroll is a singer, playwright, actor, historian, and herbalist. She received a BA in African American Studies and Political Science from Yale University. She learned music from the Black Ladies of her youth, including her fearsome great grandmother who played country & western guitar to Minnie Pearl on Saturday night radio and proper Pentecostal chords in church on Sunday.
Keith Johnston is musical director for this project and Ms Carroll's partner in art. Keith is the Artistic Director of the American Theatre of Harlem with more than 20 years experience as an art educator and in community arts program development. He is currently a Program Director for the CUNY Creative Arts Team.
This evening will also be the opening reception for Call and Response: Portraits of Influential African American Blues and Jazz Musicians. The series was painted by local artists who were asked to create portraits of African American musicians central to the development the blues and jazz. Over 30 artists responded to the invitation to interpret these musical legends through their own creativity. Call and Response will be exhibited at Great Falls Harvest Restaurant and The Rendezvous during the month of February. In March, the exhibition will travel to New York where it will be exhibited at the Caribbean Literary Cultural Center in Brooklyn. The series will live permanently with the Gill-Montague Regional School District where it will be used by teachers in Black History education curriculum.