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Thurs. March 18 "Songs You Should Know" is the name of a musical program Thurs. March 18 put together by two members of the Tufts University music faculty, Rabbi Jeffrey Summitt and Paul D. Lehrman. (Paul, in photo, is a friend and a former Boston Phoenix writer. We played softball on the Boston Phoenix team I was on back in the '80s.) Now, you might have some reservations called "Songs You Should Know." Should is that kind of word that makes you think, wait, I don't like to be told I should do anything. But the subtitle here is ( " ... and still matter.") It's a concert of music from the 1960s featuring songs that defined the issues and political climate of the time. The artists whose music they will play include Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Pete and Peggy Seeger, Malvina Reynolds, John Prine, Tom Paxton, Donovan, Joan Baez, and many more. They did this at Tufts earlier this year and are kicking it up again at Johnny D's. It came about when composer and music technologist/guitarist-keyboardist Lehrman sat down to jam with ethnomusicologist/guitarist Summit at a Tufts music department party not long ago. They realized they had something powerful in common: a great love for and knowledge about the “protest” songs of the 1960s. And they also found they shared a strong desire to teach their students about these songs, the era that spawned them, and why they were so important—both during the social upheavals of their day, and to the music and political struggles of today. In “Songs You Should Know (…and that still matter),” Summitt and Lehrman will perform songs of civil rights and civil liberties, war and peace, women’s rights, workers’ rights, environmental awareness, and the other causes that defined the political climate of the 1960s and beyond. They will talk about the music and the musicians, and how they reflected and affected the great societal changes that were taking place, as well as what the music meant to them personally, as they were growing up. They will be aided by Tufts applied faculty members violinistBeth Bahia Cohen, mandolinist Ian Goldstein and banjo plyaer Ben Krakauer, Starts at 7:30. Ticks $12. 17 Holland St., Somerville, 617-776-2004 www.johnnyds.com |
