SATURDAY MARCH 3, 2012
8:00pm
BROTHER SUN
With special guest
MARA LEVINE AND CAROLINE CUTRONEO

$25 ($22 members
)
CLICK HERE TO ORDERTICKETS ONLINE 

By popular demand, Brother Sun returns to the Hurdy Gurdy! 

Pat Wictor, Greg Greenway, and Joe Jencks have formed a dynamic new male trio. Their harmonies, as much as their lyrics, tell what they are about: warm as a campfire, stirring as a gospel church, rousing as a call to arms. Calling upon contemporary songwriting, and informed by the deep roots of gospel, blues, and folk, the trio weaves a tapestry of harmony that is brilliantly fresh and yet familiar.

Pat Wictor took a convoluted path to folk music, winding his way through rock, heavy metal, and jazz.  He started with guitar, shifted to bass, moved to saxophone, and then quit music entirely before a return in 1993, a time when he also began composing songs.  By 2001, he left a teaching career to pursue music full time and does so in the broadest way possible.  An adept improviser and accompanist, he is sought after as a collaborator, sideman and session musician, with numerous recording credits to date.  His performances--part fireside chat, part meditation on matters earthly and transcendent--feature his originals.  In addition to his own tunes, he is quick to offer up a newly-discovered lyric from another performer, or a fresh arrangement of a traditional song, delighting in introducing his audience to innovative material.  With flowing red hair and zen-like calm, Pat embraces his audience with the sincerity of his music and the clarity of his voice, inviting them in.

Joe Jencks is an international touring performer, songwriter, entertainer, and educator.  Joe applies his conservatory training to a contemporary genre, and offers the listener the best of both worlds.  He has won numerous songwriting awards and is also highly regarded as a song interpreter.  From venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, to coffee houses, festivals, spiritual communities, and schools, Joe  has spent the last nine years touring full time. His songs have traveled to every continent via radio, CDs, web casts, and other musicians. He is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Jencks weaves a diverse web of stories with brilliant musical skill, ensnaring even the most rigid of hearts, inviting them to open. His songs invite us to live inside of our passions and our beliefs.

Originally from Richmond, VA, Greg Greenway moved to Boston for its rich Folk Music tradition and has become one of its most unique and superlative emissaries. Put simply, he is one of the finest entertainers you'll ever see. Musically, he draws inspiration from all over the map--gospel, rock, blues, Jazz, and world music. But his center is in the singer/songwriter tradition that traces it roots all the way back to the social awareness of Woody Guthrie. His central appeal is that it all comes through the singular lens of Greenway's humanity and his easy affinity for the audience.  The Boston Globe wrote, "Confessional one moment, rambunctiously disarming the next, few modern folk singers can own a coffeehouse stage as completely as Greenway." His visit to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis yielded his own  composition that rises powerfully into U2's Pride/In the Name of Love. It is a hair raising, riveting anthem that embodies Greenway's passion and his gift for framing social issues. It is a show stopping event, couched in a presentation of high spirited give and take of such good humor that audiences unfailingly walk away uplifted.

Nationally touring folk artists from three major points on the map - Boston, New York, and Chicago - Pat, Greg, and Joe celebrate the amazing power of singing together. Their combined musical skills should make for an unforgettable evening - three rich voices blending on a well-crafted foundation of guitar, slide guitar, and piano.

* * *

Opening the evening will be Mara Levine and Caroline Cutroneo. Folk vocalist and jewelry designer Mara Levine is known for her  “crystal clear voice, subtle vibrato, and skillful way with a melody line”  and for her original interpretations and arrangements of folk songs from traditional to contemporary.  Mara’s beautiful version of Bob Franke’s song “Straw Against the Chill” with Joe Jencks was the #1 song on the US/international Folk DJ chart  for December 2010. Her version of Paul Simon's "Leaves That Are Green with Gathering time also reached  #1 on the same chart for October 2011.  Her first CD “Mara’s Gems” reached #52 on the folk charts for 2009 and she is currently recording her second, collaborating with artists including Si Kahn, Pat Wictor, Gathering Time, Joe Jencks and Caroline Cutroneo.  Mara performs with a number of groups and is a professional harmony vocalist for artists including Arlon Bennett and Terry Kitchen.  She has performed at venues including the Hudson Clearwater Festival, The Folk Project Festival, the Borderline Folk Club and on WFDU Traditions.  She has opened for Oscar Brand  and Christine Lavin and shared the stage with Si Kahn and Bill Staines.  She has provided vocals for recordings by Spook Handy, Terry Rivel and Jim Indell.

Caroline Cutroneo is an award-winning singer/songwriter-guitarist from Staten Island. Blending lyrical originals with traditional standards, Caroline surprises and delights her audience with originals and rare finds from such obscure sources as traditional folk song, depression-era jug bands, and newly-discovered treasures from the sixties folk revival.  She has a 4 song CD is currently recording her first full length solo CD. Caroline is a three-time recipient of the annual performing arts award of Staten Island Council on the Arts and Humanities. A former FM announcer and program director, she has earned a degree in fine arts from the City University of New York. Caroline has opened for Pete Seeger, and shared the stage with Bill Staines.  She also plays with her bands “The Runaway Train” and “Lone Pine Radio Boys” at venues on Staten Island.  She's also appeared with Mara at the Borderline Folk Club.  She has provided vocals for recordings by Bob Wright and Jim Indell..

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The Fair Lawn Community Center at 10-10 20th Street in Fairl Lawn, NJ

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THE SECOND FIDDLES at the HURDY GURDY FOLK MUSIC CLUB - June 2010