BAm Blues jGII For Immediate Release

November 7, 197 4 The Brooklyn Academy of Music 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217 Press Office (212) 636-4123 Famed folksinger Odetta Comes to BAM

Odetta- with the most glorious voice in American folk music, according to The New York Times- is coming to the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Sunday, November 17 at 3:00pm in the Music Hall. She is the second performer in BAM's Blues/Jazz series.

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Odetta moved to Los Angeles when she was six. She subsequently majored in classical music at Los Angeles City College. Although she is now known for her renditions of work songs, Negro spirituals, blues, folk, children's songs and ballads, her classical training remains an integral part of her. Recently, Odetta performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony.

With fifteen outstanding albums to her credit; an honorary degree of doctor of human letters from the Johnson C. Smith University; plus appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Newport Folk Festival, and the Gate of Horn in Chicago, Odetta emerges as a leading figure in American music. Last year, Odetta charmed audiences at BAM, and she is sure to work the same magic this year.

Odetta likes to concentrate on the words of a song. Writes Downbeat, "It is her whole self that she injects into the material. Odetta becomes the song ." Or as Odetta herself explains, "I think something happens during a performance when it's really alive that we can't always f1nd in day-to-day living. We usually keep our arms closed. Singing ... our arms become open."

BAM's Blues/Jazz series, offered by subscription for the low price of $5, brings four noted artists to Brooklyn. Producer Ed Bland of Vanguard Records scheduled Big Mama Thornton to open the series Sunday, October 20th to be followed by Odetta, John Lee Hooker (December 29) and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (January 26).

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For further press information, contact Carol Jennings at 636-4123.