I haven't listened to Sweet Honey in the Rock in ages. Love them. One of the singer's daughters grew up to be an excellent artist in her own right, founder Bernice Johnson Reagon's daughter Toshi Reagon. Although I never did see Sweet Honey (had to cancel on a concert in Tokyo unfortunately), I did see Toshi perform at a brilliant Canada Day night in Central Park, NYC in 1999 where the consulate put on a tribute performance to Joni Mitchell.
"Joni Mitchell made an unscheduled guest appearance at an all-star concert honoring her 1970s "jazz period" in New York's Central Park on Thursday (July 1). She took the stage with Chaka Khan, Duncan Sheik, Joe Jackson, Eric Andersen, Jane Siberry, Toshi Reagon, PM Dawn, Ravi Coltrane, and many others for the closing number, "Help Me."
Producer Danny Kapilian described the event, Joni's Jazz, as "not a tribute concert in any real way. This is a celebration of a very specific period of music in Joni Mitchell's career." Presented as a part of Central Park's SummerStage outdoor concert series, it was threatened by the hissing of Central Park lawns -- a steady rain that ceased just minutes before the concert's start...
Mitchell was coaxed onstage for the closing number "Help Me." Cigarette in hand, she said, "I'm really speechless. I can't begin to describe the way I feel... I'll remember this all my life -- all my long life. With the stage crowded by all participating artists, Mitchell seemed reluctant to take the lead vocal away from Chaka Khan, who prompted her with, "Joni, sing. Sing, girl." Finally, Mitchell offered a few choruses of ethereal, wordless vocal lines to a swaying crowd that could not have adored her more."
https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=440
It was one of the best nights of my life!
