We all had a fantastic time at the Album Release Party on Friday, March 6, 2020, at the American Folk Art Museum. Vienna Carroll and The Folk played songs from their new album, Harlem Field Recordings, plus older crowd folk favorites. Enjoy the photos and videos!
“What a voice!
This evening, awesome Vienna Carroll gave a free concert at the American Folk Art Museum. Accompanied by 2 guitarists [Keith Johnson and Stanley Banks] and a washboard percussionist [Newman Taylor], she got everyone singing folk, gospel, spiritual, call & response, and prison labor songs, and deftly wove in stories of resistance to a range of oppressions (slavery, racist police violence, distortions of history). She gave a shout-out to social media as a tool to expose injustice. Her rendition of the lament-lullaby “Hush Little Baby” was beyond heartbreaking. Intense, informative, inspiring.”
– Review by Pam McAllister
The address is 2 Lincoln Square (66th and Broadway). 1 train to 66th St. stop. See map.
Support the proceedings with a donation-based cash wine bar. Admission is always free.
Jalopy Theatre Presents at the American Folk Art Museum: Vienna Carroll & Keith Johnston.
Vienna Carroll sings and tells the stories of Black Roots Music — the spirituals, work songs, prison blues, and sea shanties of her ancestors. This music was integral to their survival and well-being and carries their history in it. Vienna also highlights improvised elements of this music in today’s 21st-century soundscape. As is traditional, audiences are invited to join in singing. Read more.
Quakers helped. Mostly, Black people Freed Ourselves through the "Slave Grapevine." Watch the story of African Queens kidnapped, enslaved and resisting. Plus, U.S. Colored Troops and the Slave Grapevine in the Black freedom struggle in the U.S.
Read a brief history of slavery and African rebellions in America freeing ourselves.