July 7: Odetta

Odetta is one of the most influential artists of the 20th Century. Before Odetta, no solo woman performer (let alone an African American woman!) had toured the world singing folk, blues, Negro spirituals, jazz, work and protest songs, while telling the stories of America's southern experience. Her 1950s and 60s classic recordings of "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands," "Kumbaya," "Goodnight Irene," "Amazing Grace" and "This Little Light of Mine," became folk and spiritual classics throughout the world and inspired an entire generation.

She was a pioneer, and the first major influence on the careers of Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Sweet Honey In The Rock, Judy Collins, Tracy Chapman, Carly Simon, Casandra Wilson and Jewel, to name a few. It's almost impossible to capsulate Odetta's story.

While performing with musical theatre production of Finian's Rainbow in San Francisco, Odetta began frequenting the coffee houses, learned to play the guitar, and researched and embraced a repertoire of Negro work songs. Martin Luther King, Jr. would anoint her "The Queen of American Folk Music," and she would march with him and sing for the masses at the 1963 March on Washington, and again in Selma.

In recent years, her lifetime achievement honors included: awards from the International Folk Alliance, and the Winnipeg Folk Festival; "Odetta Day" from New York's City Council in a ceremony at City Hall; the "Visionary's Award" from the Kennedy Center; the "Living Legends Award" from the Library of Congress; and she was honored in 2006 as the Featured Speaker in Riga, Latvia at their Human Rights Convention

In 2007, Odetta continues to be relevant and a dynamic spiritual force of nature as she tours the world, and as she records a new album of Dylan protest songs, her first all-Dylan album since 1965. On March 24th, The World Folk Music Association honored her with an All-Star "Tribute to Odetta" in Washington. In 2007, she will release her first ever In-Concert DVD; and she'll begin filming a documentary film on her extraordinary life and career. Her latest album, "GONNA LET IT SHINE", received a 2007 Grammy Nomination in the `Best Traditional Folk Album' category.

More Performers...