2:00
Black Roots
Before there was jazz or gospel, there was Black folk music, the foundation of American music today. Come to the Music Country stage to hear Vienna Carroll and Newman Taylor Baker share early African American music – Spirituals, Work songs, and Blues, including Prison Blues.
Vienna Carroll is a singer, playwright, actor, historian, and herbalist. She learned music from the Black Ladies of her youth, including her fearsome great grandmother who played guitar to country singer Minnie Pearl on Saturday night radio but only proper Pentecostal chords in church on Sunday.
Newman Taylor Baker is a master percussionist, composer, vocalist and educator, originally from Petersburg, VA. His paternal grandfather was the only former slave to receive a PhD from Yale University. Newman has traveled over the world through his solo drumset project, Singin' Drums and washboard explorations with The Ebony Hillbillies. He has worked internationally with jazz giants including Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner and Henry Grimes.