Biography

RADIO PROMOTION BY Art Menius Radio
art@artmenius.com https://artmeniusradio.com

Before the Pandemic, Ontario’s Larry Folk had comfortably settled into performing vocal jazz, releasing two recordings as LJ Folk. But the Pandemic forced him (and everyone else) to adapt. Without jazz venues to perform in or the backing of his trio, he returned to his original songs. The world was changing: intolerance; racial tension; political divisions; military invasions; the rescinding of hard-won rights all contributed to a growing sense of unease. As much as Larry loves singing jazz, he found it difficult to address real-world concerns with “I’ve got the world on a string.” Lessen The Blue is a collection of new songs and fully revised, previously unreleased songs from his earlier catalog, with new messaging aimed at the present. It includes songs that speak to a bewildered citizenry with words of hope and encouragement.

“There’s a lot of blue in the world these days,” Larry says. “Feels like a good time to lessen it.”
For more than 45 years Folk has written and performed in a variety of styles, moving with ease and sustained emotion from simple folk ballads to the swinging standards of the Great American Songbook. On “Hey Politician!” he plays everything except for the bass playing of Pat Collins. Folk engineered the recording which Murray Daigle mixed.

Folk’s ability to write lyrics that create stunning visuals for his listeners is matched perfectly to his masterful guitar playing. Larry's early songs mused about love and the beauty of the vast Canadian wilderness but didn’t shy away from more serious subjects such as the horrible treatment of North America's Indigenous Peoples. In the 80's he performed his original song “Amandla! Ngawethu! (Power to the People)” on Ottawa's Parliament Hill and at Toronto City Hall during rallies to end Apartheid in South Africa. A completely new version of that song called “There is a Power” appears on Lessen the Blue.

Larry's songs continue to challenge the status quo, confronting our complex relationship with the planet, political divisions, the loss of innocence, and his response to Covid 19. He wrote his guitar piece, “Nunca Mas,” in response to the atrocities inflicted on the citizens of Argentina by the military in the 70’s. The title is the name of the committee formed to investigate what happened and translates as “never more.” Lessen the Blue includes a new version for solo guitar.