house concert with jean rohe & jay mankita

It was a great show! We'll have the recordings up in a few days.

Hi! I'm hosting a house concert on Saturday, November 21. The performances start at 7:30 p.m. EST, but if you're coming in person you can show up earlier for a potluck dinner at 6 p.m. It's at 8 High St, Florence, MA 01062. If you can't make it in person, you can listen live to the performances online. There's no charge, but donations to the musicians are appreciated!

Jean Rohe and Jay Mankita

In 1991, Jean Rohe at eight years old went with her dad to a music conference and met songwriter Jay Mankita. She grew up listening to Jay's music, along with traditional American folk, jazz, and world music in her performing, musical family. 15 years later at Madison Square Garden, as the commencement speaker for the New School For Social Research graduation ceremony, Jean began her courageous and hard-hitting speech with Jay's song, 'Living Planet' which she had learned so many years ago. That night's keynote speaker, who suddenly found himself the unwitting subject of Jean's talk was John McCain, and the media storm that followed is now the stuff of community lore. It also led to Jean and Jay's renewed musical connection. This evening they are presenting a special concert at 8 High Street.

Jay Mankita is a masterful guitarist, singer, and songwriter who for the past 25 years has presented thousands of concerts throughout the Northeast. He is as well known for his funny songs like 'From a Dog's Stance', 'Tracy At The Bat', and 'The Cliche Song' as he is for his more moving material - songs like 'Living Planet', 'Morning Face', and 'Bread Alone'. He's a wicked good guitar player, his music is featured on Putumayo, and he lives here in Northampton. He thinks Jean Rohe is the cat's pajamas, and welcomes every opportunity to play and sing with her.

Celebrating her debut album, *Lead Me Home*, Jean Rohe is quickly becoming a gem of New York City's jazz and Brazilian music scene. What sets Jean's performance and songwriting apart is that they invite the listener to engage with body, heart, and mind, through captivating storytelling, astute, socially conscious lyrics, and lively rhythms and melodies, in a participatory experience that involves singing, clapping, or dancing along. "The act of singing together is uniquely subversive," Jean says. "It breaks us out of our individual isolation and carries us into a new space of community with our fellow human beings." She has performed throughout the New York area and beyond, but she loves house concerts the most, even more when she gets to play with Jay.

If you're planning on listening online, try out these test links (not of Jean and Jay unfortunately) so you can verify that you have the correct software.

Try it now: [Broadband (128k)] | [Dial-up (32k)]

~Alex!

There will be some room for overnight guests. Please contact me if you'd like to stay over.