Homage to the Earth: Abigail Washburn, Martha Redbone and Jen Shyu is presented on occasion of the opening of Asia Society's COAL + ICE, a festival of culture to inspire action on climate change. COAL + ICE is on view Wednesday, February 14, 2024 until 7:30 p.m. at the Asia Society Museum. The concert will be followed by a reception at the Garden Court Cafe. 

An extraordinary group of musicians, traversing traditions from classical to folk, come together for the first time ever in a collaborative evening of musical reverence for nature, driven by the urgency to defend life on our planet. Global musical styles find a common voice that highlights the humanizing quality of music and our relationship to our ancestors. Abigail Washburn, Martha Redbone, and Jen Shyu join forces and voices for this homage to the earth. 

Abigail Washburn is a Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter and clawhammer banjo-player based in Nashville, TN. Her musical projects range from her string band, Uncle Earl, to her bilingual releases Song of the Traveling Daughter and City of Refuge, to the mind­-bending “chamber roots” sound of the Sparrow Quartet, and her banjo-zither collaboration with guzheng virtuoso Wu Fei. Washburn’s first record with her husband, Béla Fleck, won a 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album. Abigail’s efforts to share music exist within a hope that cultural understanding and the communal experience of beauty and sound will lead the way to a richer existence. www.abigailwashburn.com

Martha Redbone is an award-winning vocalist, songwriter, composer, USA Fellow and educator known for her unique gumbo of folk, blues and gospel from her childhood in coal country Harlan County, Kentucky, infused with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn. Inheriting the powerful vocal range of her gospel-singing African American father and the resilient spirit of her mother’s southeastern Cherokee/Choctaw heritage, Redbone broadens the boundaries of American Roots music with songs and storytelling sharing her experience as a Native/African American woman and mother navigating in the new millennium. She received the globalFEST Artist Award in 2024. For more information visit martharedbone.com

Guggenheim Fellow, USA Fellow, Doris Duke Artist, multilingual vocalist-composer-multiinstrumentalist-dancer Jen Shyu was born in Peoria, Illinois, from Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrants. She’s performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is a Fulbright scholar speaking 10 languages. She’s performed with Sumi Tonooka, Terri Lyne Carrington, Nicole Mitchell, Vijay Iyer, Kenny Barron, Bill Frisell, and produced 8 albums as leader, on NY Times, Nation, NPR, etc. best-of lists. She’s produced three solo shows, including Nine Doors and Zero Grasses commissioned by John Zorn. A Steinway Artist, Jen is Co-Founder/President/CEO of Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³) along with Sarah Serpa. www.jenshyu.com/

Song Credits: Homage to the Earth

I. OPENING - Honor Song

Music and Text by Martha Redbone

II. MYCELIUM

Music and Text by Jen Shyu, Abigail Washburn, and Martha Redbone

III. MOTHER

A. Mother’s Love - Music and text by Martha Redbone

B. Mother’s Child - Traditional

C. Mother Cow’s Companion - Taught to Jen Shyu by Zhang Ri Gui, in Hengchun, Taiwan

IV. COSMOS

A. “Thoughts of Light and Freedom” - Text by Edward Cheng, gayageum by Jen Shyu (taught by Ha Kyung Mee)

B. Stars in the Heaven - Traditional

V. LAND AND LABOR

Long John - Traditional African-American work songWade in the Water - Traditional African-American spiritualHo Hei - traditional Chinese work songO Sasu Rana - Traditional East Timorese song in Resuk from Ataúro island, taught to Jen by Maria de JesusTaiyang Chu Lai - Traditional Chinese folk song taught to Abigail Washburn by Wang De Hua, Chengdu, Sichuan

VI. COAL

A. Prayer of a Miner’s Child - Song by Shirley Hill (Jen’s biwa accompaniment taught by Arai Shisui)

B. Come All Ye Coal Miners - Song by Sarah Ogan Gunning

VII. ICE

“Song for Naldo: Silenced again, Never again” | Dedicated to Ana Shyu (Jen Shyu’s mother) and Naldo Rei, author of Resistance: A Childhood Fighting for East Timor. Last section based on text from Chega! The Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation, Timor-Leste, Executive Summary. Intro: Lakadou song as taught by Mestre Marsal, from Aileu: Translation from Tetum to English by Naldo Rei and Jen Shyu

VIII. DEATH

A. Lay ‘Em Down - Music and text by Martha Redbone

B. Little Birdie - Traditional

C. Su Xiang Gee - Taught to Jen Shyu by Chen Yin in Hengchun, Taiwan

IX. RETURN

A. Great Big Stars - Traditional

B. Amis tribe song from Taiwan - taught to Jen Shyu by Amis choir leader, Ling, Shiu-Ying

@asia.society Celebrate love for our planet this Valentine’s Day! 🌏❤️ Join us on Feb. 14 for “Homage to the Earth,” a special music performance by Abigail Washburn, Martha Redbone, and @Jen Shyu at Asia Society in New York. Part of @COAL + ICE, our upcoming festival of culture to inspire action on climate change. RSVP now at 🔗AsiaSociety.org/NY and fall in love with music! #nycexplored #nycbucketlist #AsiaSociety #asianart #jazz #valentinesdaygift #newyork #musicperformance #concerttickets #fyp ♬ original sound - Asia Society Museum