GET ON BOARD: UNDERGROUND RAILROAD & CIVIL 2

In pre-Civil War years, Black gospel spirituals often served dual purposes - to assert hope for a better life and to convey coded directions and advice to runaway slaves heading north on the Underground Railroad, a network of sympathizers providing food, shelter and aid. Many of these same songs became anthems of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, their messages of faith and determination stoking freedom marches and rallies. Since 1982, the married folksinging duo of Kim and Reggie Harris has been exploring the rich lore of Underground Railroad stories and songs and their subsequent reuse in more modern contexts. The Harrises' 1997 Appleseed CD, "Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad," was proclaimed "a stunning recording" by Sing Out! magazine and has been embraced as a teaching tool by Underground Railroad and Black history museums, freedom centers, and school systems. On the new "Get On Board!", Kim (vocals) and Reggie (vocals, guitar) present some of the lesser-known Underground Railroad songs they've uncovered, revive several standards from their past recordings and mix in newer compositions "Ballad of the Underground Railroad," co-written by Black history scholar Charles L. Blockson, Cathy Fink's spirited "One Little Step Towards Freedom," and Roberta Slavitt's aching "Freedom is a Constant Struggle." The Harrises' guests on "Get On Board!", spanning ages and genres, include Bernice Johnson Reagon, renowned musician, teacher, activist and founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock; actor Danny Glover; contemporary folk-blues performer Guy Davis; Matt and Marshall Jones of the SNCC Freedom Singers group of the '60s; 14-year-old rapper Jonathan "Baby Jay" Gutierrez; acclaimed folk duos Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer and Magpie, and many others.

Prominent among the CD's glories is the use of voices - Kim's radiant mezzo-soprano and Reggie's high baritone appear in innumerable harmonic combinations, swooping around each other, slipping in and out of unison, joyfully welcoming the additional vocal textures of their guests. The vibrant arrangements and the fascinating background of the songs, described in the CD's liner notes, make "Get On Board!" an accessible and uplifting documentary of music's role in our country's history.