[Magdalen] Joan Baez

[Mahoney, W. Michael]

On Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 11:25 AM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
wrote:

> My reaction to the concert was decidedly mixed, though I'm glad I went. It
> was a thrill to see her walk onstage alone at the beginning, guitar in
> hand. The audience immediately rose to its feet and gave her a standing
> ovation, after which she quipped, "Well, I can go home now!" Her opening
> song was "Me and Bobby McGee."
>
> That was the only time she was onstage by herself, and the staging and
> lighting effects from that point on seemed more suited to a rock concert,
> with smoke and shifting arrangements of spotlights that were sometimes
> trained on the audience.
>

Hmmm.  I will be in the same theater this coming Thursday though I doubt
there will be smoke and mirrors -- er, I mean lights.  The performers will
be Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.  Mendelssohn
and Mozart are on the program.

I don't recall that I ever saw or heard Baez live though we certainly
listened to her a lot in those early days.  I still have her original
Vanguard recordings. I was lucky enough to be at concerts featuring, a
differing times, folks such as Odetta, Josh White, Bob Gibson, Pete Seeger
and other troubadours of the times.  But the most memorable occasion was at
an Episcopal church somewhere in mid-town Manhattan.  The event was the
baptism of my godson and for some reason Judy Collins was present.   She
sat right in back of me.  One of the hymns was "Amazing Grace" and the
congregation had the collective wisdom to fall silent.  She sang it solo
and without accompaniment -- in my ear.  I was in love for days.

I also saw Nina Simone perform at a south side Chicago night club -- not in
my ear but still a memorable experience.

Mike M.