This Little Light of Ours

Another great one gone - Odetta, the folk singer, who performed songs of the African American experience for decades. Odetta inspired and influenced everybody in the folk music world, from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan to Johnny Clegg and Ani DiFranco. She often said that music - especially the blues - gave her a positive way to express her deep anger. Her beautiful rich voice rang out over the mall in the March on Washington on 28 August 1963, where she sang "I'm On my Way" and "Oh Freedom," drawn from traditional slave blues. She had hoped to sing at Barack Obama's inauguration - but we still have the songs; here's some snippets - listen to the amazing miner's hammer sounds she makes on "Water Boy."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miXQ265dMZM

And this:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/arts/20081203_odetta.html?hp