An evening with Joan Baez 13 May 2015
Related articles
An evening with Joan Baez
Her voice is as clear and
distinctive as it ever was and her ability to tell a story
still as spellbinding.
The Independent,
2014
Baez switched between ballads, political songs and gospel in a remarkable show that earned her a standing ovation. – The Guardian, Sep 2014
Joan Baez – legendary folk singer, songwriter, activist, peacenik and cultural icon for over fifty years – returns to bewitch New Zealand audiences touring to Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland mid October 2015. This concert series follows 2013/2014’s triumphant world tour that saw Baez receive standing ovations across four continents.
In the anniversary year of the historic walk from Montgomery to Selma in which Baez took part, her tireless work to fight for people’s rights continues to resonate and inspire. On May 21 this year, Baez will receive Amnesty International’s highest honour, its Ambassador for Conscience Award for 2015. The award recognises Baez’s lifelong commitment as an outstanding, courageous activist whose beliefs can't be separated from her music. Equally her music is celebrated this year with the USA’s Library Of Congress selecting her 1960 debut album, Joan Baez – which jettisoned her onto the front cover of Time Magazine – to be included in the National Recording Registry as a crucial part of America’s history.
It was fifty-five years ago, that Baez, then eighteen, was introduced onstage at Newport Jazz Festival. Baez bought her first guitar when she was fifteen and quickly became the central figure of the powerful folk movement, selling more albums than any female folk singer before her. Dylan met her in Greenwich Village and she introduced him to the world as the two became musically and romantically entwined. Baez is a wonderful interpreter and Dylan gave her some of his best songs – ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’, ‘With God on Our Side’ and ‘Blowing in the Wind’ to name a few. Their relationship inspired her to write “Diamonds and Rust”. Baez put her own stamp on other fine songwriter’s songs, amongst them ‘There But For The Fortune’ (Phil Ochs), ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ (Robbie Robertson) and ‘Jerusalem’ (Steve Earle). Her unforgettable performance of ‘We Shall Overcome’ at Woodstock, when she was several months pregnant and her husband David Harris in jail for draft resistance, has indelibly linked her to that song for millions of fans.
The new live album, Diamantes, features previously unreleased recordings in Spanish, English and Portugese, including covers penned by Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Simon & Garfunkel and Sting. Her previous album, Day After Tomorrow, was nominated for a Grammy Award and described by The Boston Globe as “songs that evoke the spirit and message of her defining early work…Baez has never sounded wiser, or more deeply human”.
“ It’s been a long time”, Joan said,
“ since I’ve had an entire album of songs that speak to
the essence of who I am in the same way as the songs that
have been the enduring backbone of my repertoire for the
past 50 years.”
Watch Joan perform here
The musical and political influence of Baez is incalculable. She sang about freedom and civil rights from the backs of flatbed trucks in Mississippi and from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before Dr Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech, and she marched on the front lines of the civil rights movement. Baez brought the Free Speech Movement into the spotlight at Berkeley; organised resistance to the war in South East Asia, travelling to Hanoi; inspired Vaclav Havel in his fight for a Czech Republic; and sang on the first Amnesty International tour. In 2008 Baez stood alongside Nelson Mandela when the world celebrated his 90th birthday in London's Hyde Park, and performed at Occupy Wall Street in New York. In 2009, Joan attended the first presidential inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington DC and sang at the Peace Ball. She was back in Washington in 2010 to celebrate Black History Month with an all star concert broadcast live from the East Room.
In 2011 the prestigious Folk Alliance International presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Into 2012 Joan participated in other historic events ranging from an April benefit concert in Berkeley dedicated to raising awareness and improving the lives of war victims to the outdoor concert celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Esalen Institute on its beautiful grounds in Big Sur. She continues to fights for human rights wherever she goes.
In 2009 the PBS
American Masters series premiered a documentary of her life
story, Joan Baez: How Sweet The Sound. Today, Joan Baez's
voice is as extraordinary as ever but carries with it the
gravitas of a life well lived. These unmissable concerts
offer a rare opportunity to experience one of the world's
greatest and most inspiring performers.
For the New
Zealand Tour, Baez is backed by both her son, Gabriel Harris
on percussion, and multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell on
banjo, guitar, keyboards and fiddle.
NZ TOUR
CHRISTCHURCH Thursday 15
October - Christchurch Isaac Theatre Royal
Book at www.ticketek.co.nz 0800TICKETEK
WELLINGTON Saturday 17 October -
Wellington Michael Fowler Centre
Book at www.ticketek.co.nz 0800TICKETEK
AUCKLAND Tuesday 20 October - Auckland
ASB Theatre
Book at www.ticketmaster.co.nz or 0800 111
999
Tickets on public sale Friday 15
May
ends
News
Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students
29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more
New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process
7 Mar 2020 News
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more
Business
NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19
17 Mar 2020 Business News
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more
NZ Government announces aviation relief package
19 Mar 2020 Business News
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more
Living
Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London
6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall.
It was the first... more
Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate
12 Jan 2022 Arts
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...
New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more
Property
Fairer rules for tenants and landlords
17 Nov 2019 Property
17 NOVEMBER 2019
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more
New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax
17 Apr 2019 Property
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more
Migration
Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued
19 Nov 2019 Migration
19 NOVEMBER 2019
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more
Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location
18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018
HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY
The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more
Travel
Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
more
Sport
The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners
27 Oct 2019 Cricket
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more
PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final
26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
First published on Werewolf
The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more
Kiwi Success
Congratulations to Loder Cup winner
26 Sep 2018 People
25 SEPTEMBER 2018
The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more
Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
HON JENNY SALESA
Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more
Recruitment
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
14 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
22 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more