We Black Folk welcomed a cohort of talented folk artists to Club Passim in the first-ever Griot Gatherings.
For two nights, Club Passim transformed into a celebration of the roots of Black folk music and the presence of Black folk in the local Boston scene. Sponsored by HipStory and BAMS Fest, “Griot Gatherings” was a two-night event held at the Cambridge venue as part of the We Black Folk project. More than just an important contribution to the local live music scene, it was an invigorating showcase of local Black talent within a variety of folk genres.
A pilot We Black Folk event ran for the first time last year as a partnership with Club Passim aiming to expand its audience while curating the work of Black folk artists. This year, as founder Cliff Notez explained, their goal was to begin to create something more permanent, eventually aiming for a 2028 music festival in collaboration with BAMS Fest. They explained that the first goal of the We Black Folk project is to educate people on the roots of Black folk music, focusing on New England specifically but also within the U.S. and worldwide. To this end, they will be creating a historical archive where the public can access this information. Their second goal is to sponsor and highlight Black folk artists through concerts and grants. Both of these goals were on display at Griot Gatherings as the featured artists played in a room decorated with posters highlighting Black folk founders.
“Folk” is a wide and versatile genre that goes far beyond a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar. More than anything, folk is about storytelling. It’s the music of the people, tied to a specific location and a place in time. Folk artists use a variety of instruments and techniques, write new songs and reinterpret traditional ones, and mix performance with audience engagement. But the core of folk is storytelling and the human engagement that occurs when stories are shared. This is the origin of the event’s title, as a griot is a West African storyteller, musician, and oral historian. Each performer embodied this tradition as they graced the Club Passim stage.
The first night began with a performance by Cliff and the featured artists of “This Little Light of Mine,” a tradition carried over from the previous year. Following that were performances from five artists, each of whom played two songs, with short interludes between each in which Cliff Notez highlighted the work of various legacy roots artists including Elizabeth Cotton, Lead Belly, and Harry Belafonte. True to the theme of the evening, each artist told personal stories while also not shying away from current events.
Kayla Blackburn was first to take the stage, playing “The Hardest Thing,” a song about the danger of pushing oneself too hard, and “Village,” a song written five years earlier during the pandemic. Blackburn reflected on all that has changed in that span of time and showcased her stunning voice. Zion Rodman followed, displaying another stunning voice and intricate guitar playing while wearing a yellow guitar strap bearing the phrase “Police Line Do Not Cross.” He played two originals, the first being “At the Time,” a song about what he’d likely be doing when the world ended (his answer: sitting in traffic). His second song, “Living in Hell,” was inspired by a time when he was waiting at a car mechanic and hearing Laura Ingraham on Fox News on the television there. Rodman noted that “all the problems we have as a society have solutions, but we don’t do them because it makes rich people sad” and that “conservative pundits are like sharks; they have to keep saying shit or they’ll die.”
Next was Pamela Means, a staple at Club Passim and an incredible songwriter and guitarist. She struck a particularly bitter and sad note with her song that was, as she said, “a love note written to the country during George Floyd, back when it was trendy to care.” Her feelings were encapsulated by the line “Hands up, don’t shoot / I’m tough, not bulletproof.” Providing a contrast, Cinamon played two love songs. The first was about radical self-love and learning to rest, while the second song was about how love is power. Both songs simply featured her voice and groovy and rhythmic bass lines played on their bass ukulele.
Finishing the evening was Grace Givertz, another talented vocalist who also highlighted the history of the banjo as a Black instrument that makes her feel strong. By her own description, even though she doesn’t play in a technically “correct” manner, she noted that “the good thing about folk music is it doesn’t matter!” She again captured the audience with her song “America.” Written in 2020, she noted it was “sad that five years later things are the same.” She also asked the audience to “continue to be kind to each other and yourself,” and noted that “we would be nowhere without immigrants.”
The second night of the Griot Gatherings provided equally captivating and talented local artists. Lydia Harrel opened night two with her soulful voice and intricate ukulele playing. Although she said she usually performs more jazz and R&B, she’s always felt drawn to the storytelling aspect of folk. To that end, she played a song she wrote that morning, reflecting on the state of the world and encouraging everyone to get some much-needed sleep. The audience responded with laughter and appreciation of the message, as Harrel noted that creativity comes when you’re rested. She was followed by Chris Walton, whose beautiful voice and songs captured the room. His first song, called “Boys Don’t Cry,” was written about his father passing away when he was 19, which had many in the room in tears. He finished by playing a cover of “Moon River” with a highly inventive harmonic guitar arrangement.
Dzidzor was next on stage and performed with just a laptop, microphone, and mixer, along with guest saxophonist Tim Hall. She performed one spoken word piece, engaging the audience by having us breathe, laugh, yell, and speak out the names of loved ones. The phrase she kept returning to was a question for the audience: “Who are you, uninterrupted?” Kemp Harris then played two songs. The first was a song he wrote for a friend who was diagnosed with AIDS in the late 1980s. His second, called “Now and Then,” was a song about his birth town of Edenton, North Carolina. At 72 years old, Harris reminded the audience that he was alive during Jim Crow and remembered “White Only” signs. He noted that while the country seems to be trying to ensure that people of color remember their place, “our place is everywhere.”
Devon Gates delighted the audience with her beautiful voice, inventive bass playing, and playful banter and jokes. Her first song was another pandemic-era tune called “Skipped that Step” about self-love and being good enough. Her second song was part of a new project centered around an Afrofuturist ghost story. As Gates said, “Ghosts have a different perspective!” Last to perform was Naomi Westwater, who captivated the audience with the stories behind her songs. She first had the audience join in for a song she wrote for her new puppy. Following that was a song she wrote to her 21-year-old self titled “Crows,” consoling feelings of her life having not yet started. She closed with a song reflecting on her biracial background and wanting a Black mother to reassure her that her identity was still valued, especially in the wake of the latest national election.
These two evenings displayed the immense talent of local Black folk artists and demonstrated the importance of highlighting the history and future of this music. This is also just the beginning of this work. Cliff Notez and We Black Folk are curating more events to raise money and awareness with the ultimate aim of putting on a 2028 festival. The next upcoming event, Cultural Crossroads, will be a collaboration with Ágora on March 22 at Croma Space featuring Zili Misik, Jorge Arce, and more, with tickets available here. Be sure to check out these promising future projects from We Black Folk.
Photos by Omari Spears