20th Annual Benefit Weekend

Friday, January 14, 2005

Chad Mitchell Trio

One of the highlights of the Friday night show was a rare appearance by (Their last concert was in September of 1996). Mike Kobluk, Chad Mitchell and Joe Frazier, accompanied by the 'orchestra' that has played with them since very early in their career, Paul Prestopino and David Ander (below), began their set, as they began most of their concerts, with Bob Gibson's Mighty Day, but with a slight twist. The trio has always been known for it current, topical material, and so with the substitution of the word 'Wind' for the word 'Day' in the title, the song's subject became a movie, not a storm.

They next sang a couple of their topical songs from the 60s that still have relevance today, Phil Ochs' Draft Dodger Rag and Tom Paxton's What Did You Learn in School Today?.

Mike Kobluk sounded as good as ever singing lead on Ian Tyson's beautiful Four Strong Winds, and they followed that with a rousing version of Woody Guthrie's The Sinking of the Reuben James.

The trio brought their set to a close, with the help of Tom Paxton and David Buskin (on piano), by doing Tom's I Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound (above and below).