As part of my local PBS television station’s fund raising campaign they aired the filming of Paul Simon’s 1991 New York Central Park Concert. This concert happened 2 or 3 years before Mary and I saw him in concert at the Gorge Amphitheater.

Sometime in the past few years I wrote about the Gorge Concert and what an amazing performance it was. In both concerts the band and singers were mostly black or latin and were the same as those used on Paul’s Going to Graceland and Rhythm of The Saints albums.

I remember Going to Graceland was produced in South Africa while apartheid was being protested worldwide and Paul Simon was being criticized for going there and accused of exploiting South African musicians.

I don’t remember all the details of the outcome to the controversy but both apartheid and the recording difficulties were eventually resolved for the good.

Paul’s project not only produced some wonderful music but gave a group of great South African musicians exposure to the rest of the world and helped other performers such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo achieve world acclaim.

All in all I very much enjoyed seeing the 1991 concert on television and was reminded that I got to see and hear one of the world’s great performers and song writers and his marvelous band live.

Ken Kaiyala
7-21-2020