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PETE SEEGER PLAYED AT THE SCHOOL OF THE FIVE-YEAR-OLD SON OF MY FRIEND JAY SHERMAN-GODFREY THIS MORNING

Here’s Jay:

“Pete Seeger played at Malcolm's school this morning as part of a activist/folk music gathering sponsored by a group called People's Music Network.

“He really is marvelous -- gotta be 80 or so by now. I've seen him a handful of times, from the early 80s when he was still in strong voice 'til now, as he sings in a authoritative whisper.

“Anyway, the performance was great (maybe another letter in that), but what happened later was really cool. A Japanese-American story teller (didn't catch her name) did a piece where she taught everyone a Japanese folk song about singing frogs (keke keke keke keke kwa kwa kwa was the refrain -- do re mi fa mi re do) -- a round in four parts. Pete stood in the back, singing along to himself, and as she was finishing up he sat up on a table, grabbed an envelope, quickly scribed as if with a staff, and jotted down the tune. He then ambles over to the poster she was using to lead the audience and jots the words down below the bars. He ran over it again silently mouthing it and stuffed it in his jeans pocket.

“Another song collected.”


JOHN REPLIES: I saw Pete Seeger in ‘90 or ‘91, in Chicago, a concert with Arlo Guthrie. Unforgetable show, Pete’s incredible musicianship, Arlo’s hilarious monologues, the feeling between them.

Pete Seeger is 85 now.