MAUI BEAT: Shout the praises of the mighty ODETTA

By JON WOODHOUSE, Contributing Writer

Long hailed as a folk-blues institution, Odetta headlines a special concert tribute to gospel legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe on Sunday, joining the Holmes Brothers and veteran singer Marie Knight.

One of the greatest gospel singers of her generation, Tharpe was a charismatic performer who accompanied herself on guitar, and combined spirituals with blues and swing music of the 1930s and ’40s.

"She was a dynamic performer and brilliant on guitar," says Odetta.

"She’s like a hero that many people admire. Marie Knight worked with her. She’s a minister and sings out of the gospel repertoire."

Knight spent a number of years touring and recording with Tharpe, releasing ecstatic duet recordings of gospel songs like "Up Above My Head" and "Didn’t It Rain." The duo once played to an audience of 27,000 in Washington, D. C.

After her death in 1973, Tharpe came to be known as a feminist role model. As a tribute to the influential artist, the album "Shout, Sister, Shout!" was released in 2003 featuring fans such as Bonnie Raitt, Joan Osborne, Maria Muldaur, Michelle Shocked, Marie Knight, Phoebe Snow and Odetta. Many of the artists were backed on the album by the Holmes Brothers.

Masters of American roots music, the Holmes Brothers mix soul, blues, gospel, R&B and country into their extensive repertoire. Their latest CD, "Simple Truths," includes unique versions of Bob Marley’s "Concrete Jungle" and Hank Williams’ "I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry."

"The Holmes Brothers are magnificent," says Odetta. "They are open, lovely and generous people."

Distinguished by the power and clarity of her voice as well as the richness and intensity of her delivery, Odetta is a living musical archive. Drawing on a variety of musical genres, she has kept alive the legacy of early folk and blues singers, including Bessie Smith and Leadbelly. Recording prison work songs, blues, ballads, lullabies and spirituals Odetta inspired many artists from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez to Janis Joplin, Joan Armatrading and Tracy Chapman.

Listening in 1958 to her album "Odetta Sings Ballads & Blues" inspired Dylan to trade in his electric guitar for an acoustic guitar and pursue folk music.

"I can’t take credit for it because he was just responding the way he responded," she says. "On the other hand, I’m very pleased that whatever he got from my music is part of the magnificence that he is."

It was Odetta’s music that spurred a young Janis Joplin to begin singing.

"She was one who couldn’t stop telling me how when she was growing up, listening to me helped her," says Odetta.

Odetta has many noted admirers, including poet Maya Angelou, who proclaimed: "If only one could be sure that every 50 years, a voice and a soul like Odetta’s would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly, we would hardly recognize time."

Born in Birmingham, Ala., in 1930, Odetta had initially wanted to pursue a classical music career. In 1949, she encountered folk music in San Francisco’s North Beach clubs.

"I came into it really as a hobby," she recalls. "The songs were addressing emotional areas that had to do with my life and living in the world. The classical music, which I still adore, had to do with let’s pretend, made-up stuff. Words are very important to me and I think I’m also a born propagandist. And I’m definitely a worshiper of what has gone before, the history of the people we came from. Through the music, I learned about the strength of the people I came from. It was through the music that I started learning our history and that’s what straightened my back and kinked my hair. What’s called an Afro today used to be called an Odetta."

Tall, imposing and proud, Odetta was the first prominent black woman to sport the cropped Afro hair style in the 1950s, which was called an Odetta in the black community.

Odetta’s influence would extend beyond music into the realms of politics and social activism. She marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., and sang at the 1963 March on Washington, D.C. At a 1992 concert in Los Angeles, a few months after the Rodney King riots shook the city, Odetta helped console the audience with her renditions of "Amazing Grace" and other gospel standards. In 1994, she was appointed an "elder" to the International Women’s Conference in Beijing.

Still touring and recording, in 1999 she released the Grammy-nominated album "Blues Everywhere I Go," and in 2001 released "Lookin’ for a Home," a tribute to blues great Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter.

That year, in the wake of the tragic events of Sept. 11, David Letterman’s "Late Show" returned to the air one week later with Odetta as the musical guest. Backed by the Late Show Band and the Boys Choir of Harlem, she sang an inspirational medley of "We Shall Overcome" and "This Little Light of Mine" and closed the show with a rousing "Amazing Grace."

Odetta’s live performances continue to draw superlative reviews.

"If God is a woman, she surely sounds something like Odetta," praised the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "Robust, stentorian, it rises from the deepest wells of gospel and the blues like the trumpets of Jericho coalesced into flesh and blood."

"After seven decades, the Odetta voice is like a national monument: wonderfully preserved and still capable of stark drama," praised the Boston Herald. "She can still be astounding."

At the age of 75, while Odetta says she tires a little of traveling – "I’m ready for the beam-me- up-Scotty room with all the bags getting there at the same time" – she can’t imagine retiring.

"I figure if I end up with three notes, I’ll be on stage somewhere croaking those three notes," she concludes. "I wouldn’t know how to stop."

Colorado-based tabla player Ty Burhoe has been touring and recording with Krishna Das for around seven years. KD, as he’s known to intimates, travels across America leading Hindu chanting kirtan sessions, where Burhoe adds an essential, underlying percussive groove to Krishna Das’ powerful, resonant baritone.

A student of legendary Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, Burhoe has excelled at creating unusual instrumental collaborations blending the tabla with African, flamenco, rock, Celtic, Chinese, bluegrass and jazz traditions.

"I come from a tradition of classical Indian training and jazz which has a lot of self-expression in it," says Burhoe. "With kirtan, however, you’re basically holding down the ground so everyone else can move into a meditative space. If I were to do all my ornamentation, it would be too interesting and draw people out of that space.

"I’ve had musicians who know me from my other work say, ’Why are you doing this? You don’t get a chance to solo or express yourself.’ For me, there’s something important about understanding the need for a deep groove and a very solid, consistent time. It’s like country session drummers who are amazing technicians but only keep a simple groove. That’s the benefit of having someone like myself for the kirtan; people sense there’s more behind the engine. And over time, KD has allowed me to get away with a little more."

Krishna Das has been instrumental in popularizing the Hindu practice of singing divine praises, creating an accessible form that many folks, including some prominent musicians, have embraced.

Sting sang on Das’ album "Pilgrim Heart," and one of the Beastie Boys added his voice to the celestial choir on another album. KD taught Madonna how to chant for a movie role, and after her sojourn in India, Alanis Morissette frequented his chanting sessions. And Steely Dan’s Walter Becker and Def Leppard’s drummer Rick Allen played prominent roles on KD’s recent chant album "All One."

"Rick more than a lot of drummers understands the value of a deep groove as opposed to all the fancy chops," says Burhoe. " We have this great way of connecting with each other. Whenever I’m playing, I try to invite him and that frees me up to be a little more playful."

An album by the band Shakti featuring guitarist John McLaughlin and table player Zakir Hussain inspired him to learn the Indian percussion instrument. "Pretty much that was it," he recalls. "I met Zakir in 1990 and he took me on as a private student. I’m now his tour manager and I get to soak up his musicality."

In recent years, he’s worked with a number of notable musicians across the spectrum, including banjo virtuoso Bella Fleck, jazz pianist Art Lande, former Journey drummer Steve Smith, Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai, popular New Age artist Kitaro, and John McLaughlin’s bassist, Kai Eckhardt.

Besides recording with Krishna Das, including the recent (humorously titled) "Greatest Hits of the Kali Yuga," Burhoe created the soundtrack for a ashtanga yoga DVD by popular Maui-based teacher Nicki Doane, and he was featured, along with KD’s chanting, on the soundtrack of the Oscar-winning documentary "Born into Brothels," about kids born to Indian prostitutes.

"That was a surprise to all of us," he says about the Academy Award.

"When we did the soundtrack, it was just a little homemade documentary. That was a thrill."

Just out, Burhoe has crafted "Invocation," a sublime recording with Krishna Das and Indian singer Manorama.

"It’s getting rave reviews," he reports. "I just did it as a low-key, meditative recording and people really love the meditative feel of it. I’m hardly drumming on it; I’m playing all the keyboards and doing the arrangements. It’s been neat to put out more melodic stuff."

Krishna Das will lead a kirtan evening accompanied by Ty Burhoe on tabla on Sunday at 7 p.m. at The Studio Maui in Haiku. Tickets are $25 and $15. Call 575-9390.

Reach Jon Woodhouse at jonwoodh@verizon.net.

WHO: Odetta joins the Holmes Brothers and Marie Knight for a "Shout, Sister, Shout!" tribute concert

WHERE: The Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater.

WHEN: Sunday at 5 p.m.

TICKETS: $35, $25 and $10, plus applicable fees, and half price for kids 12 and under.

CONTACT: The MACC box office, 242-7469 or www.mauiarts.org