It’s clearly no accident that the San Francisco string quartet are paying tribute to the late civil rights activist Pete Seeger on the eve of a presidential election. There were few more resilient opponents of Trumpian values than Seeger, who weathered FBI investigation, blacklisting and a jail sentence on his way to becoming the godfather of folk protest. In 2011, at age 92, he was still to be found marching on Wall Street.
Aided by well-chosen singers, Kronos reprise Seeger’s hits in characteristic neo-classical style – jaunty and folksy for If I Had a Hammer and Which Side Are You On, reflective on Turn, Turn, Turn and mournful on Where Have All the Flowers Gone? There are some lesser-sung gems too: Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, about the American war in Vietnam, and Garbage, an environmental ballad written for kids. Storyteller, a skilful 16-minute assemblage of interviews and music, helps flesh out the man behind what Kronos call Seeger’s “radical empathy”. Alas, not much can be done with We Shall Overcome, that anthem of triumph that sounds like defeat, but the primary feeling in play here is a fearless, defiant joy.
