[Classifieds] [classifieds]: Woods Hole Folk Music Society presents Gordon Bok - Nov 6

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From: "msulanowska" <msulanowska at whoi.edu> 


“Poet Laureate” of Maritime Music to Perform in Woods Hole 


The Woods Hole Folk Music Society’s 45th season will continue on November 6 with a concert by maritime singer, songwriter and guitarist Gordon Bok. The concert begins at 7:30pm 

Gordon Bok is a folk singer, instrumentalist, songwriter and folklorist from Camden, Maine. He tells stories in song of life on and by the sea, about sailors, fishermen, mermaids, seafaring adventures and disasters, and the heroics of everyday people. His mellow baritone voice is accompanied by six-string guitar, both acoustic and classical, and 12-string guitar, in a style strongly influenced by Anglo American, Celtic and Latin American guitar traditions. He also plays instruments of his own invention, including a six-string fretted cello called cellamba and a wind instrument dubbed the Bok whistle. Mr. Bok is well known for his trio work with Ed Trickett and Ann Mayo Muir, blending voices with guitars, hammered dulcimer, harp and flute. 

Gordon Bok grew up around the boatyards of Camden, working on a variety of vessels and learning songs and stories from workmates. He soon began to write his own material, and has since contributed a steady flow of poems, songs, stories, tunes, and choral works to the folk music world. He has performed extensively in the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and has made numerous radio appearances including "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor. He has also provided musical soundtracks for several films, winning a Blue Ribbon award from the American Film Festival for "Coaster: The Adventure of the John F. Leavitt." 

As a songwriter, he has explored many forms of music and poetry, producing works such as “Seal Djiril's Hymn,” where song and spoken verse are interspersed, and "Saben the Woodfitter,” a cante-fable in which spoken narrative blends with song-phrasing. 

In 2014, he marked the 25th anniversary of his epic folk opera “Play of the Lady Odivere” by remastering and re-releasing this critically acclaimed album. Based on a “Selkie” (seal-man) legend, the original music was written in the Norn dialect and collected in the Orkney Islands in the early 1800s. Reviewer Paul Sullivan dubbed Mr. Bok's version “a 51-minute masterpiece of theater, music and song.” 

In 1997 Gordon Bok received an honorary Doctorate of Science from the Maine Maritime Academy for his reflection of Maine's maritime heritage in his compositions and performances. His legacy includes over thirty recordings, featuring his own compositions and folk tunes from around the world. Some of his songs, such as "Dillan Bay," "Isle au Haut," and "Turning Toward the Morning" have become folk standards. His latest release, Then & Now, includes remastered selections from his first album, produced by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary in 1965, along with recent recordings from his Camden, Maine home. 

An active folklorist and collector of traditional songs, Mr. Bok’s repertoire includes folksongs from Italy, Portugal, Mongolia, Quebec, Latin America, and the Hebrides Islands. He is a singer and caretaker of the music and liturgy of Kalmyk Mongolians who immigrated to America in the 1950s, maintaining and circulating an extensive collection of their surviving music among their descendants. He is also a writer and poet, as well as a master woodworker whose carvings, like his songs, focus on maritime themes. 


He says: "I'm drawn to songs that show me how others have lived their lives and sorted through their problems – that's the great wisdom in traditional music, and in the songs that will become the tradition in other generations.” 

Time Magazine simply described him as "The Poet Laureate of those who go down to the sea in ships." 

The concert begins at 7:30 PM. Doors open at 7 PM. Admission is $20 with discounts for members, seniors, youth and children. Community Hall is handicapped accessible, and street parking is free after 6 PM. 

Upcoming performances include: November 20, Cassie & Maggie MacDonald; January 15, April Verch Band; Janauary 29, Bill Staines; February 26, Hanneke Cassel with Mike Block and Keith Murphy; March 12, Molsky’s Mountain Drifters; March 26: Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen. 

The Woods Hole Folk Music Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering enjoyment of folk music in all its forms. Concerts are generally held two Sundays per month from October through April. They are made possible by support from its members, season subscribers, volunteers, and performers. Refreshments are served at intermission and donations of baked goods are always welcome. More information is available at www.arts-cape.com/whfolkmusic or by calling 508-540-0320. 

Calendar listing: 

Maritime singer Gordon Bok performs Sunday, November 6, 7:30pm, at Community Hall, 68 Water Street, Woods Hole. Doors open at 7pm. $20, with discounts for members, seniors, youth and children. More info at: 508-540-0320 and www.arts-cape.com/whfolkmusic 





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