Dan Zanes and Friends
-the Grammy-Award-winning family music band from Brooklyn-
have dedicated their latest album "The Welcome Table"
to the New Sanctuary Movement and Families for Freedom!
Click the CD cover to purchase and help the NSM continue our work.
We are honored by their partnership and inspired by their beautiful gift of music.
Dan Zanes and Sonia de los Santos (right) join members of the NYC New Sanctuary Coalition and Families for Freedom at a pro-immigration march.
And here's a note from our friend Dan:
Hello friends, neighbors and music lovers,
Thank you for supporting the New Sanctuary Movement!!!
A few years ago I had very little understanding of the extreme difficulties faced by so many immigrants in the U.S.A. Until I came into contact with the New York branch of the New Sanctuary Movement and their allies Families for Freedom, to whom some of the proceeds will also go, I had no idea where to go or what to do to participate. As I read their websites and attended meetings in the city whenever possible I began to be able to put human faces on the issues that had, for me, seemed somewhat remote and at times abstract - particularly the heartbreaking, unjust, immoral, and decidedly anti-family use of deportation in our country. While so many of us live in relative comfort there are those in our neighborhoods and communities who live in constant fear for reasons that most of us would likely regard as trivial.
The Welcome Table - Songs of Inspiration, Mystery, and Good Times is a collection of old and (mostly) new DZAF recordings of tunes drawn primarily from North American gospel traditions. There are some standards - Up Above My Head, Working on a Building, Jesus on the Mainline; a couple of originals - Under the Sun, We've Been Down This Road Before; a few from Latin America - Himno Guadalupano, Granito de Mostaza; and several deep cuts from various corners of our recorded past.
The reason for making this CD was to raise funds and to help create awareness for The New Sanctuary Movement, a coalition of interfaith religious leaders and participating congregations called by their faith to respond actively and publicly to the suffering of our immigrant brothers and sisters living in the United States. I believe sincerely in this young, important organization and was completely moved by how enthusiastically the wild cast of characters involved in the making of this CD volunteered their time, energy, and considerable talents.
It's an emotional and uplifting trip for me as I listen to the voices and sounds of past and present incarnations of Dan Zanes and Friends. The beloved singers Barbara Brousal, Cynthia Hopkins, Donald Saaf, and Father Goose all make appearances along with Sonia de los Santos, John Foti, and Saskia Sunshine Lane from the current band. Guests Basya Schechter, The Five Blind Boys, Broadway diva Rebecca Naomi Jones, Hammond organ mad professor and long-time collaborator Rob Friedman, The How-Not-to-Get-Rich Orchestra, and four soulful teenagers from the Bronx (who need a name for their group!) round it all out.
I love my audience and feel connected to you all. I felt confident that if we made a joyous, rocking, and celebratory CD most of you would consider buying it. I also felt that if we did it for a cause that we wholeheartedly believe in, most of you who aren't already engaged in these issues would at least take a minute to learn more. Please join us as we look around our communities and our country and become more informed about the plight of our immigrant neighbors and friends and find out how we can all work together towards a better life here for one and all.
Thank you for giving a minute to The Welcome Table, The New Sanctuary Movement, Families for Freedom, and more of life's possibilities. Together we can roll the chariot along.
Love,
THANK YOU Dan Zanes and Friends
for your Heartfelt Support and Solidarity!
"Our voices lift and tell our stories in the strength of songs."
*Click here to return to the New Sanctuary Coalition website*