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!
I’ll be with my string band and we’ll be having lots of fun. Spirituals, work songs, prison blues, and sea chanteys – exuberant, roots and funky. Stanley Banks (George Benson) on bass, Keith Johnston (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Jon Hendricks) on guitar and Newman Taylor Baker (Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Henry Grimes) on washboard.
Come on out. Sing along. Admission is free. CDs for sale!
Gorgeous CD artwork by Ken Daley.
“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
Vienna electrifies audiences with sparkling rhythms, energy and humor, sharing her beloved Black Roots music – spirituals, work songs, and early/prison blues – and jazz and pop favorites.
She is joined by:
Hilliard Greene – Bass. A regular at Minton’s, Greene performed and recorded with Jimmy Scott for 20+ years, serving as his Musical Director from 1995 to 2011. Greene was also Cecil Taylor’s Concert Master for his group “Phtongos.”
Newman Taylor Baker – Washboard / Percussion. Best known for Singin’ Drums, his exploration of the washboard, and his work with musicians Henry Threadgill, Billy Bang, Henry Grimes and Leroy Jenkins.
Keith Johnston – Guitar. Artistic Director, American Theatre of Harlem. Co-founder, Back-A-Yard Theater. Musical Director, RUINED, Denver Center. Director BET 30 Anniversary Upfront! Program Director, CUNY Creative Arts Team.
At the Living Room (which is now in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – see map). Check it out, lots of space, great sound, wonderful hosts. Only 10$
Friday May 1, 2015. 7pm Tickets
I Just Want To Make Love To You
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. Enjoy, join in, sing and dance with us.
Richard Rodgers Amphitheater
Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem – Map
Sunday, June 29, 2014
5:30 pm
FREE
http://harlemartsfestival.com
Festival Lineup: http://harlemartsfestival.com
Profile, Vienna & Friends: http://harlemartsfestival.com/portfolio/vienna-carroll-friends
Ms. Carroll is pleased and honored to be joined by:
Henrique Prince – Fiddle / Violin. Founder and leader of the internationally renowned Ebony Hillbillies, one of the last black string bands in the US (and NYC’s only).
Newman Taylor Baker – Washboard / Percussion. Best known for Singin’ Drums, his exploration of the washboard, and his work with musicians Henry Threadgill, Billy Bang, Henry Grimes and Leroy Jenkins.
Keith Johnston – Guitar / Music Director. Music Director, RUINED, Denver Center. Music Director, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. Artistic Director, American Theatre of Harlem. Co-founder, Back-A-Yard Theater. Director BET 30 Anniversary Upfront! Facebook.
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.