Lomax Tribute Performance Concludes Choate’s 125th in the Arts

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Choate alumni musicians celebrated the arts on the PMAC stage on Friday night in a performance commemorating the life of influential folk singer Alan Lomax ’30. The tribute concert also marked a grand finale for the school’s 125th anniversary celebration.

Grammy award nominee Tift Merritt ’93 headlined the event, joined by performers including Ian Underwood ’57, former woodwind and keyboards player for Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, keyboardist and songwriter Robert Kilgore ’76, and recent Choate alumnus Kohl Weisman ’15.

The group performed songs mostly from classic rock, jazz, and folk genres, from lonesome solo guitar ballads to hearty band numbers like “Jesus On the Mainline,” a traditional gospel that brought the concert to a close. In addition to playing original music (as Merritt did), many of the numbers honored Lomax with renditions of songs compiled by him, such as Weisman’s “Wild Ripplin’ Waters” a western folk song that Lomax himself performed.

Many consider Lomax to be the father of American folk music: he spent most of his life traveling the United States and parts of Europe recording and cataloguing folk songs, amassing a collection that represented a fundamental aspect of classic folk culture. Lomax’s recordings not only expanded the folk music documented in the Library of Congress, but were also featured on national radio that exposed the public to legendary artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly. According to Ms. Kalya Yannatos, Director of the Arts, Lomax was chosen as the subject of the tribute for his commitment to cultural equity. “The whole idea of cultural equity seemed an important theme to galvanize around … one that would provide a sense of purpose to the evening beyond just gathering talented musical alums.”

Ms. Yannatos also explained that arranging the performance was a long and difficult process; the Arts Department worked hard reaching out to alums, emailing back and forth, and ruminating on the creative concept for months in advance.

“As in any collaborative, creative process, it was not easy … until the day of the concert it was hard to know if it would actually come together, being that many of the alums hadn’t actually met or played together before, or hadn’t seen each other in 40 or so years. It was a real leap of faith, but in the end, I think it was worth it,” said Ms. Yannatos.

The stage was electric, with the performers feeding off one another and exchanging non-spoken cues in a manner that did not reflect the short time they had actually been playing together. Although all were from very different backgrounds, each alum used his or her unique musical experience to make every song distinctive. Weisman explained that the age difference did not impact the band’s level of comfort.

“Those guys have outstanding professional credentials, but they were also just super pleasant guys, and we became a strong unit pretty quickly. Playing with Ian Underwood, who played with Frank Zappa for years in the 60s and 70s, was especially surreal—at first intimidating—but Ian is such a sweet person that we become comfortable very quickly,” said Weisman.

On the whole, students and faculty had a very positive reaction to the event. As for the performers? They seemed to have a pretty good time too.

“We were just playing out of love for the music and enjoying the time back at Choate. All in all, the dynamic of the alumni band was amazing; we were having a blast,” said Weisman.

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