Ifeanyi Awachie Photo
Kim and Reggie Harris.
Two children stood onstage next to Kim and Reggie Harris, who looked delighted at the kids’ attempts to learn the song they were singing.
Together, they sang a bittersweet but sunny tune. The audience applauded — on the beat. At the end of the song, Kim Harris thanked the young girls warmly for their help.
Though she and her bandmate had carried the performance, the help of their backup singers — plucked from the crowd moments before — had made it that much richer.
Musicians and storytellers Kim and Reggie Harris believe in audience participation, and make it happen. The crowd at the duo’s concert this Tuesday, as part of the International Festival of Arts & Idea‘s family programming in the tent at the south end of the New Haven Green, made spirited hand gestures and sang along to each song. The interactive performance was accessible to a wide range of ages — like the families with young children and older adults who made up most of the crowd.
The age groups in between, however, were missing.
Kim and Reggie Harris’s storytelling incorporates African American spirituals and narratives about the history of slavery. With local Juneteenth celebrations well underway, coinciding with the recent launch of the History Channel’s Roots remake, the couple’s New Haven appearance comes at a time when many in our community and country are reflecting on America’s slave roots.
In contrast to Roots, which — like many conversations about slavery — is increasingly devastating the longer you watch, the Harrises’ performance was increasingly uplifting. Audience members joined them onstage for the joyful spiritual “I’m on My Way to Freedom Land,” making the atmosphere so warm and inviting that a baby wandered onto the stage as well and remained there contentedly. Kim Harris gave a part-song, part-spoken word performance on the life of Araminta Ross, who most of us likely know by another name.
“Pretty soon, her face will be on the twenty-dollar bill,” Kim hinted, which sparked loud cheers in recognition of Harriet Tubman.
The setlist also included a few songs with environmental messages. At one point in the show, the couple borrowed the melody of the Christmas carol “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” and sang about the importance of recycling. This may have been a nod to the stereotype that black people generally don’t recycle or follow environmentally conscious practices. Perhaps that part of the set felt strange because it was meant for a mostly black audience that wasn’t in attendance — some of whom may have benefited from further education on environmentalism.
But slavery and one’s relationship to the environment are just two aspects of black life. Kim and Reggie Harris’s performance made it possible to think about what more there is to that story, and whose perspectives could be added to the conversation. It made this reporter wonder, what if Arts & Ideas included artists whose lyrics this city’s young black kids know by heart? How powerful would that musician-audience exchange be? The Festival has done well to feature Kim and Reggie Harris’ musical history lesson; by adding acts to the lineup who could speak to today’s black realities, they just might bring the voices of youth of color into the mix. And that singalong would be dope.
