Walter Parks concert will launch new Fletcher’s Listening Room series in Montclair

JEN GRAY

WALTER PARKS

Fletcher’s Listening Room — a new music series with a coffeehouse vibe, launched by ministers and congregants of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair — will open on Aug. 10 with the intriguing Walter Parks. The 8 p.m. concert takes place at Fletcher Hall at the UUCM on Church Street.

In a show titled “Woodstock Variations,” Parks will play his own versions of songs performed at the 1969 Woodstock Festival and tell stories about touring with the late Richie Havens.

Parks’ connection to Havens runs deep. Now a St. Louis resident, he originally hailed from Jacksonville and lived in Jersey City for many years. He said that Havens also lived in Jersey City, and that Havens’ admiration for the area inspired Parks to buy a house around the corner from him. He joined Havens’ trio in 2000 and played with him until 2011. Havens died in 2013.

I first saw Parks perform in 2019 at a magical event in Jersey City, the Vault Allure Experience Festival, which featured his Downright Iridescent band. I wrote that “When Parks performs, it’s impossible not to stare because he’s captivating with his unique, subtle, lilting voice and strong stage presence.”

SIOBHAN BRADSHAW

The late Richie Havens, performing with Walter Parks.

Parks has recently co-written music with Stan Lynch, the former Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers drummer, and has performed at various venues with R&B drummer Bernard Purdie, and at Lincoln Center with Judy Collins. He tours with his trio Swamp Cabbage and with The Unlawful Assembly, a group that reimagines historic spirituals. He formed The Nudes, a folk duo with cellist Stephanie Winters, in the ’90s.

He will perform solo in Montclair.

The Listening Room’s organizing team includes many Montclair residents who have been instrumental in building the town’s music and social justice community, including The Rev. Edward Scott Sammler-Michael (who is known as Rev. Scott), The Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, Ghana Imani Hylton, Wil Hylton, Randy Crafton, Scott E. Moore and Markus Hauck.

By establishing this series in his name, they honor The Rev. Norman Fletcher, a beloved minister who served UUCM from 1932 to 1972.

“Rev. Fletcher, through his Unity Concerts, brought some of the greatest performers and creators to Montclair, including a ‘who’s who’ of the greatest, including (Jascha) Heifetz, (Vladimir) Horowitz, (Pablo) Casals, (Andrés) Segovia, (Sergei) Rachmaninoff and Yo-Yo Ma,” said Jerry Fried, a former mayor of Montclair and a former UUCM board member.

Rev. Scott and The Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael.

According to Rev. Scott, Fletcher was a widely anthologized sermon writer. “His sermon ‘The Menace of Anti-Semitism,’ delivered in June of 1939, was one of his most widely republished works,” Rev. Scott said. “Dr. Fletcher had warned of the dangers of totalitarianism and the evils of fascism since 1934.

“This concert series aims to embody the truth that arts, ministry and social justice are natural partners in social improvement. We aim to remind one another that the meaningful work of liberation is often amplified around groups of people focusing on beauty and truth expressed through the arts.”

Parks seems like a fitting first artist at this new series, given his spiritual performances.

“Fletcher’s Listening Room aims to provide a welcoming coffeehouse vibe featuring artists curated by industry insiders to maximize our ability to hear great music in a great-sounding room,” said Rev. Scott. “We do this all in the spirit of peace, love, justice and the common liberation of all humankind.”

For more on the show, click HERE.

For more about Parks, visit walterparks.com.