Music: Odetta

Just heard that great music legend Odetta passed away - by some coincidence Miriam Makeba also died not long ago,so now we have two great civil rights activists leaving us around same time.I heard about Odetta as main influence on Joan Baez,Bob Dylan and every other folkie under the sun but her music has no close connections with them - folkie troubadours were often just melancholic,while this woman had regal,majestic presence closer to Bessie Smith or Mahalia Jackson than anything else.Excellent,passionate contra-alto that sounds like she could blow audience away right from the stage,that's how I see her.She called herself music historian and that's excatly what she did,searching for forgotten songs and singing about religion,love,hope,slavery and such - she even recorded excellent album of blues songs from 1920s (which I love very much).She was active until the last moment and her recent albums are also fine,althoght world has moved away from 1960s folk and forgott her a little,with all the commercial fluff getting attention these days but she truly was a pioneer.

I salute you and love you,Odetta.