Bright Morning Star
GRAFFITI
Bright Morning Star
A Preview
by Jeff Alson
The Ark is the place to be on April 12 when Bright Morning Star brings its unique brand of political cabaret to Ann Arbor for the first time since 1981. Their incredible repetoire of traditional and original songs, humorous skits, and theater performed in the cozy confines of the Ark promises to be an evening to remember.
The members of Bright Morning Star are political progressives, active in the movements for peace, civil rights, feminism, labor, and the environment. They see their music as one more way to organize and energize people. But while there are many talented solo performers who have followed in the GuthrieSeeger tradition using story telling and topical songs to teach and inspire, you have to go back to the Almanac Singers and the Weavers to find a folk ensemble as talented as Bright Morning Star. You have to add doses of Bertold Brecht and George Carlin as well!
The Bright Morning Star (BMS) ensemble, now on its Tenth Anniversary Tour, is comprised of East Coasters Charlie King, a local favorite who has recorded six albums; Marcia Taylor, who just recorded her second solo album; Court Dorsey; Cheryl Fox; Ken Giles and George Fulginiti-Shakar. The concert will be interpreted into American Sign Language by Laura Kolb. The group has just released its third album, "Sweet and Sour," on Flying Fish Records. BMS has performed at scores of folk festivals and political events, have toured annually since 1978, and have performed with favorites like Odetta, Pete Seeger, and Holly Near.
The group's versatility is its greatest strength. Members play well over a dozen instruments and are trained in musical disciplines as varied as classical, opera, and blues. They integrate humor, theater, and dance into their act, and their vocal harmonies are so rich that they often set their instruments aside. A typical show would include songs such as "Harriet TubmanFollow the Drinkin' Gourd," a powerful melding of a contemporary ballad with an old slave song about the underground railroad; "Their Way," a Sinatra-like parody of "My Way" aimed at academic conformity; "Gay Spirit," an anthem about the freedom to be visible and proud; "Vine and Fig Tree," a traditional Hebrew peace song; "Bisan," an Arabic song about the human desire for a homeland; as well as a hilarious skit about safe sex.
The creativity and versatility of the group allow it to consider the "political song" from so many angles that even the most tragic issue can be approached with humor and the celebration of struggle rather than simply with cynicism and despair. The group's attitude was best captured by Charlie King when a reporter asked him to comment on the following Pete Seeger quote about Bright Moming Star: "They're doing exactly what Woody Guthrie and I tried to do 40 years ago, exactly." Charlie laughed and said, "Yeah, trying to find work"!
Luckily for us, they have "found work" on Wed., April 12 at the Ark (see CALENDAR for details).