Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – February 18, 2025: Songs from Gullah Traditions

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/68957.html

Theme: Songs from Gullah Traditions.

The Gullah people are an African American group – descended from enslaved people from West Africa – who live in the coastal plains and sea islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida and have a rich tradition of folksongs.

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- O Day

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Buzzard Lope

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

Reggie Harris- Sheep, Sheep/Little David

Ready to Go (Reggie Harris Music)

Ken Whiteley and the Beulah Band- Beulah Land

Ken Whiteley and the Beulah Band (Borealis)

Ranky Tanky- That’s Alright

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

David Rea- Kindlin’ Wood/Things are Coming My Way

X 7 (Gitsu)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Sink ‘Em Low

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

Ranky Tanky- Join the Band

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

Ken Whiteley- Michael Row

Long Time Travelling (Ken Whiteley)

Kim & Reggie Harris with Baby Jay- Row de Boat

Get On Board: Underground Railroad & Civil Rights Freedom Songs, Volume 2 (Appleseed)

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project with Tim O'Brien- Before This Time Another Year

Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project (Borealis)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Sign of the Judgement

Get in Union (Tompkins Square)

The Duhks- Moses Don’t Get Lost

Migrations (Sugar Hill)

The Duhks- Turtle Dove

Migrations (Sugar Hill)

Penny Lang- Let Me Fly

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Ranky Tanky- Watch That Star

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Once There was No Sun

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Adam in the Garden

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Who Built the Ark

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- Let My Children Go

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

Peter Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- My God is a Rock

The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways)

Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band- Pay Me My Money Down

Live in Dublin (Columbia)

Ranky Tanky- Ranky Tanky

Ranky Tanky (Resilience Music)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- You Better Mind

Put Your Hand On Your Hip and Let Your Backbone Slip: Songs and Games from the Georgia Sea Islands (Rounder)

Bessie Jones & The Georgia Sea Island Singers- May Be the Last Time, I Don’t Know

Put Your Hand On Your Hip and Let Your Backbone Slip: Songs and Games from the Georgia Sea Islands (Rounder)

Next week: A Tribute to Nina Simone.

--Mike Regenstreif 

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday February 27, 2021

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard live at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and https://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning was prerecorded at home and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/50995.html

 

Q&A- Redbird
One More Folk Thing (Sonic Peach Music)

Alison Brown featuring Keb' Mo'- What’s Going Om
The Song of the Banjo (Compass)
Emma's Revolution with Reggie Harris- Our People Gonna Rise
Our People Gonna Rise – single (Moving Forward Music)
Reggie Harris- It’s Who We Are
On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Anne Hills- Accidental August                                                                                                    Accidental August (Hand & Heart Music)
Moira Smiley & Voco- Dressed in Yellow
In Our Voices (Moira Smiley Music)
Ellis Paul- Angel from Montgomery
Ellis Paul’s Traveling Medicine Show Vol. 1 (Rosella)
Maria Dunn- Don’t Think You are Forgotten
Joyful Banner Blazing (Distant Whisper)

Joni Mitchell- Play Little David
Archives – Volume 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) (Rhino)
David Rea- Kindlin’ Wood/Things are Coming My Way
X 7 (Gitsu)
Steel Rail- Paper Girl
Coming Home (Crossties)

Bonnie Dobson- JB’s Song
Take Me for a Walk in the Morning Dew (Hornbeam)
Chaim Tannenbaum- London, Longing for Home
Chaim Tannenbaum (StorySound)

Extended Feature: Songs of Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941). Jelly Roll Morton, whose real name was Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, was a pianist, singer, songwriter from New Orleans who was steeped in traditional music and was one of the first important composers in jazz. The next 16 songs were from Jelly Roll Morton's repertoire.

Dave Van Ronk- Mamie’s Blues
Sunday Street (Philo)
Dave Van Ronk- The Pearls
Sunday Street (Philo)
Leon Redbone- Winin’ Boy Blues
Double Time (Warner Bros.)
Jelly Roll Morton- Mr. Jelly Lord
Anamule Dance: The Library of Congress Recordings, Volume 2 (Rounder)
Andrew Homzy Ensemble- Black Bottom Stomp
Homage to Jelly Roll Morton (DSM)

Dr. John- Milneburg Joys
Goin’ Back to New Orleans (Warner Bros.)
Wynton Marsalis- King Porter Stomp
Swinging Into the 21st (Columbia)
Dr. John & Danny Barker- I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say
Goin’ Back to New Orleans (Warner Bros.)
Jelly Roll Morton- Don’t You Leave Me Here
Last Sessions: The Complete General Recordings (GRP)
Billy Novick's Blue Syncopators- Wild Man Blues
Music from The Great Gatsby (Billy Novick)

Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women- Sweet Substitute
Old, New, Borrowed & Blue (Alligator)
Amos Garrett- Michigan Water Blues
Acoustic Album (Stony Plain)
Jelly Roll Morton- Shake It
Last Sessions: The Complete General Recordings (GRP)
Dirty Dozen Jazz Band- Kansas City Stomp
Jelly (Columbia)
Paul Geremia- Dr. Jazz
Love My Stuff (Red House)

Jelly Roll Morton- Original Jelly Roll Blues
Birth of the Hot (RCA Bluebird)

Laura Smith- If I Were a Bell
As Long As I’m Dreaming (Borealis)
Susie Arioli- Beyond the Sea
Night Lights (Spectra)
Mark J. Nyvlt with Jennifer Maines- Russian Lullaby
This ‘n’ That (Mark J. Nyvlt)
The Klezmatics- Shushan Purim
Apikorsim/Heretics (World Village)

Eva Cassidy- People Get Ready
Simply Eva (Blix Street)
The Sojourners- Eyes On the Prize
Hold On (Black Hen)
Penny Lang- Let Me Fly
Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)
The Band- Daniel and the Sacred Harp
Stage Fright: 50th Anniversary Edition (Capitol)

Marc Nerenberg- Times Ain’t Nuthin’ Like They Used to Be
Times Ain’t Nuthin’ Like They Used to Be (Marc Nerenberg)
Kim Richey, Linda McRae & Doug Cox- When the Black Clouds Roll
The Banff Sessions: Music & Songs Inspired by the Photos of Dorthea Lange (Kim Richey, Linda McRae & Doug Cox)
Katie Oates- Luray Women
We Go On: Si Kahn’s Songs of Hope in Hard Times (Hollow Reed Arts Recordings)

Bobby Dove- Golden Years
Hopeless Romantic (Bobby Dove)
Annabelle Chvostek- Walls
String of Pearls (Annabelle Chvostek)

Becky Buller- Inglewood Upon Stratford
Distance and Time (Dark Shadow Recording)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on March 27. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm.

Find me on Twitter. www.twitter.com/mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

David Rea 1946-2011

(Photo: Jack Bawden)

David Rea passed away Thursday in Portland, Oregon. He had just turned 65 the day before. Apparently, he’d been ill for several months.

I brought David to play in Montreal a lot in the 1970s. Mostly at the Golem, but he was also on a Pollack Hall concert I produced in 1976 that also included Bruce “Utah” Phillips, Kate & Anna McGarrigle with the Mountain City Four, Erik Frandsen, and the White River Bluegrass Band. David was a sweet guy, an amazing guitarist, a fine songwriter and a great performer.

It was as a guitarist that David first made his mark. Gordon Lightfoot hired David as his lead guitarist when he was just 17. After Lightfoot, he played for several years with Ian & Sylvia and did live and session work with artists ranging from Mike Seeger to Joni Mitchell. He played guitar on Jesse Winchester’s first album.

David made three early LPs with backing from members of bands like Mountain (David co-wrote their hit, “Mississippi Queen”) and the Grateful Dead. But, I think he surpassed those albums with three excellent CDs that were released between 1993 and 2000.

I had a chance to catch up with David at the 2001 Folk Alliance Conference in Vancouver. It was the first time we’d seen each other in 20 or more years. He was as good as I've ever seen him at a couple of too-short showcases I saw him do there.

David was a great musician and – for many years – a great presence in the folk music world. He is missed.

--Mike Regenstreif