Kim and Reggie Harris ~ 2016 May 21 ~ Javawocky Coffeehouse ~ Brockton, MA
Kim Harris, vocals; Reggie Harris, guitar and vocals
Set List
Hallelujah I'm a Bum - What's That I Hear {Phil Ochs} - Wade in the Water/Harriet Tubman story - Hickory Hill - a cappella sea shanty - Roll On Woody - Satchel Paige - Freedom Road ... intermission ... Tom Irving on dulcimer performs "The Cape" by Guy Clark - You Can Close Your Eyes {James Taylor} - Another Age {Phil Ochs} - St. Paul's Song (1st Corinthians 13) - Do What I Have To Do {Phil Ochs} - High Over the Hudson - Passive Restraint - If I Had a Hammer ... encore ... In the Shelter (with Tom Irving)
Videos
Scroll down past the videos for review.
a cappella sea shanty
"St. Paul's Song (1st Corinthians 13)"
Review
Kim and Reggie Harris are a big duo. They have big voices and they make a big sound with just their voices and one guitar. More than that, they have big personalities, big enthusiasm, and big love.
The story telling and teaching in their music elevates what they do to an even higher plane. Kim's story of Harriet Tubman interspersed with the traditional spiritual "Wade in the Water" was breathtaking, as the story started as the tale of an escaped slave by the name of Araminta Ross and evolved into the inspirational story of a heroine whose face will soon be on the twenty dollar bill.
Their songs covered a dizzingly wide variety: three Phil Ochs songs, the iconic "If I Had a Hammer," a laugh-out-loud funny children's song ("Passive Restraint"), a singalong about great pitcher Satchel Paige (the audience's part was simply to shout out PAIGE!), and a rolicking sea shanty. They sang two wonderful original tributes to two of the folksinger/activists who paved the way for the Harrises ("High Over the Hudson" for Pete Seeger and "Roll On Woody" for Woody Guthrie). With every song one gets the sense of the great flowing river of people's music, flowing from the 2000 year old words of St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, to traditional folk songs, to the Harrises' own wonderful compositions. The audience left the venue with a sense of hope and uplift.
The second set was opened by Tom Irving, who performed "The Cape" by Guy Clark (who died this past week) on dulcimer. Tom also came up on stage to sing along with the encore, "In the Shelter."
An odd feature of this concert was a disco ball lighting the area just in front of the stage during the first set. Apparently it was wired to the same circuit as the stage lights. During the intermission, venue staff got up on a ladder and disconnected the disco lights. Javawocky Coffeehouse is a friendly, unpretentious venue, with table seating for about 75 people, in a Unitarian Univeralist church basement. The chocolate cake at intermission was, well, how can I put it, sinfully good.
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