Great Moments in Vinyl plays Paul Simon

March 28, 2019 • Martyrs’ • Chicago, IL

Featuring Greg Woods and members of MOSAIC Soul vocal ensemble: Phillip Armstrong, Eric Tre’von, and Erica Rene with Bill Grady, Kevin Campbell, Jonathan Reed, Lindon McCarty, Joe Day, John Bowes, Michael Bogart, Bob Kessler, and William Lindsey Cochran.

Sound mixed by Ray Quinn. Lighting by Stan Pszeniczka.

(A video montage from our Beverly Arts Center performance is posted here.)

It looked like the end of the road for Paul Simon. His last album had sold less than any of his other records, and he had to admit he was running dry on inspiration. But then a friend of a friend loaned him a mixtape of South African music she’d put together to stimulate her own muse. And Simon found he liked the exuberant voices and grooving rhythms so much, he was willing to fly in the face of world opinion and travel to the apartheid stronghold of South Africa to seek out those very musicians he’d been listening to on that borrowed cassette to help him create his next collection of songs. Little did anyone know, the experience would not only rejuvenate Paul Simon’s career, it would also give birth to one of the most beloved albums of the ‘80s, Graceland.

Join Great Moments in Vinyl as we bring the music of Paul Simon to the stage. We’ll feature songs from throughout Simon’s early career in our opening set, and then present all the tracks off of Graceland accompanied by a chorus of voices designed to capture the vibrant sounds of Ladysmith Black Mambazo.