Quick Q and A with Jay Ungar, September 2011
 by Kathy S-B  ·  9 September 2011

The me&thee coffeehouse delights in the fact that we are able to present such diverse artists week in and week out during our season. Jay Ungar and Molly Mason are no strangers to traditional folk music fans. Their music is — in a word — exquisite. Spend a moment watching this lovely video and you’ll see what I mean.

People are still talking about the wonderful performance that Jay and Molly put on during their last visit to our coffeehouse. Those who were there got to experience several young musicians playing with the masters. Come see this magic once again.

For more information about Jay and Molly, visit their website.

Can you tell us a bit about your association with the Ashokan Center? What is the mission of the Center?

The Ashokan Center’s Mission is quite simple: Shared experiences in Nature, History, Farming and the Arts.

The Center (formerly Ashokan Field Campus) has been home to our Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps since 1980. And it has offered living history, environmental and outdoor education programs for schools since 1967. Most schools today come for a two night stay M–W or W–F. More than 5,000 children experience Ashokan programs each year. Our Fiddle & Dance programs serve about 500 adults and families each year as well.

In 2006 SUNY New Paltz, the college that owned and operated the 374 Ashokan Field Campus since the 1960s, decided to sell. Molly and I partnered with a group of people interested in saving the property and the programs and formed the Ashokan Foundation a tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Through a partnership with the Open Space Institute and NY City’s Department of Environmental Protection, we were able to save the property and keep the programs alive and well. Molly and I serve on the board of the Ashokan Foundation and help run the Center year round.

See http://ashokancenter.org, http://ashokanfoundation.org and http://ashokan.org.

Ken Burns’ The Civil War was just rebroadcast this past spring to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the war. Did you receive any new and unexpected attention due to this rebroadcast?

The rebroadcast was timed to coincide with the Civil War Sesquicentennial. The Sesquicentennial definitely has meant that we’re doing many more Civil War oriented concerts and events. Most memorable was a show last April. On the eve of the 150th anniversary of the first shot fired on Fort Sumter from Charleston SC, Molly and I and our Family Band performed with the Charleston Symphony on the very site from where the shots were fired. The concert included three Gospel Choirs and the Mayor of Charleston who read “The Lincoln Portrait” accompanied by Copland’s music. An integrated group of Confederate and Union re-enactors flanked the stage during our performance. It was a beautiful clear night and thousands of people were in attendance. It was a very moving experience.

Your last recording was a Live CD with some special guests: Harry Aceto, David Bromberg, Tony Trischka, Kate Pierson (B-52s) and Sam Zucchini and your daughter Ruthy and her husband Mike Merenda. How did that CD come about and how did you decide what songs to play?

Our CD The Pleasures of Winter is a compilation of recordings from four live radio specials that we did for PRI Public Radio International several years ago. The concept was to offer our favorite seasonal music for winter and the holidays, but not the usual songs for Christmas and Chanukah. We had a great time doing it and are planning a tour of this music for 2012.

Are you and Molly working on any new projects?

Molly and I are working on another compilation project. We’ve been told for years that some of our music has a healing quality for some people. During the winter of 2002–2003 Molly put together a collection of tracks from our previous recordings that she thought had that healing quality, to share privately with anyone who might be in need. A month or two later she was diagnosed with a massive benign brain tumor in a nearly inoperable location. She underwent two surgeries (2003 and 2004) and is completely tumor free today! The collection of healing recordings became an important part of her preparation for surgery, her recovery and rehabilitation.

During rehab at Helen Hayes Hospital I found a room to think, meditate and play music. It was called the Quiet Room. As Molly approached the end of rehab was clearly going to be healthy again, I wrote a tune for her entitled “The Quiet Room.” We’re now planning to release Molly’s healing compilation under the title “The Quiet Room.” It will include a new tune or two. We’re both excited about making this collection available to others and sharing the story of its creation.

What do you and Molly like to do when you’re not playing music?

We have spent a lot of our time the past few years working with the Ashokan Foundation and Ashokan Center. As a result our tours now feel a bit like a vacation. In fact we sometimes plan in an extra day or two on the road when our performances take us to an area that we’d like to learn more about.

We’re fortunate that our work is something we both love. But when not working, Molly’s latest passion is collecting round stones of all shapes and sizes and creating cool arrangements of them. Our backyard has a system of braided streams and probably billions of river stones. She previously collected and photographed heart shaped stones and had a remarkable knack for finding them. We have literally hundreds, some in the house, but most at various locations around our yard. When I’m not working I like to swim and take walks in the woods. Molly likes the walks in the woods too… . of course, another source of round stream stones. Both of us love to spend time with our grandson Willy, now 3 and 1/2 and his lovely parents, Mike & Ruthy!