FOLK HEADLINES: REGGIE HARRIS RECOVERING FROM LIVER TRANSPLANT, MINSTREL COFFEEHOUSE CHANGES NAME, MIRIAM MAKEBA DIES AT THE AGE OF 76
Reggie Harris is doing well after undergoing an emergency liver transplant. Reggie’s health had been failing and his doctors decided to do the transplant when a viable donor became available. The surgery went very well and he is expected to make a full recovery, but he will be off the road for some time.
I will post additional information in the near future, including a special fund that is being created to help meet the rising medical bills which will become difficult with a lack of income during his recovery.
I am sure that I speak for everyone when I say that we wish Reggie a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing Kim and Reggie back on the road in the very near future.
The organization is dropping “Coffeehouse” from the title after recognizing that the word has developed new connotations in recent years. With the advent of Starbuck-type venues offering acoustic music, the word “coffeehouse” has become associated with an establishment where someone goes to enjoy a cup of coffee, chat with friends, surf the Internet on a laptop, read a book, and perhaps listen to the person strumming their guitar. The Minstrel is NOT that type of establishment and has always been a premier listening room for great traditional and contemporary music.
This is the second time that the name has changed in the history of this outstanding venue. At it’s inception, the venue was known as “The Minstrelshow Coffeehouse”, the name being inspired by Bob Coltman’s classic song “Before They Close the Last Minstrelshow”. As the country became more politically correct, they cropped “show” to avoid any connection with the once-popular form of “black face” entertainment.
The Minstrel has gone through a number of venue changes as well over the years, but we can all rest assured that they will continue to offer outstanding music every Friday night at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, New Jersey.
Oh yes, you will still be able to get a great cup of coffee to enjoy with the show!
South African music legend Miriam Makeba has died at the age of 76. She collapsed onstage during a performance in Italy, suffering a heart attack after singing one of her most famous songs “Pata Pata”.
Makeba combined the folk and jazz influences of her native South African and helped introduce the world to the township rhythms of her homeland. In 1959 she appeared in an anti-apartheid documentary with her then-husband Hugh Masakela. The following year, she attempted to fly home to attend her mother’s funeral only to discover that the government of South Africa revoked her passport. In 1963 she appeared before the United Nations to urge an international boycott of South Africa and the government responded by banning her music from the country.
Harry Belafonte introduced Makeba to American audiences, and they recorded the classic album “An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba” which won a Grammy Award in 1966 for Best Folk Album.
Shortly after Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and the white racist ruling class collapsed, Makeba was invited back to her homeland for a joyous concert.
Although she announced her retirement three years ago, Makeba continued to perform – and there is something poetic in her passing doing something she loved so dearly. Miriam Makeba will be long remembered for her passion, her brave stance to fight injustice and racism, and her incredible music that introduced South African folk song to a world-wide audience.
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