Kurt Elling performs on Woody Guthrie celebration, “Note of Hope”

On September 27th, 429 Records released Note of Hope, a celebration of Woody Guthrie, based on the words and writings of the great American master.

The collection features Grammy-winning bassist Rob Wasserman’s collaborations with Jackson Browne, Ani DiFranco, Kurt Elling, Michael Franti, Nellie McKay, Tom Morello, Van Dyke Parks, Madeleine Peyroux, Lou Reed, Pete Seeger, Studs Terkel, Tony Trischka, and Chris Whitley. The release is the first of a series of events leading up to the 2012 centennial celebration of Guthrie’s birth.

Kurt Elling’s funky, inspired performance of Guthrie’s “Peace Pin Boogie” (track 6) is a tongue-in-cheek look at the rewards of being politically correct.

The tracks, primarily unpublished Guthrie writings, were penned between 1942 and 1954 while he was living in New York City and Brooklyn. The project was conceived by Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter, who, inspired by the work of renowned bassist Rob Wasserman asked him to lead the project. Together the two, along with music production company Steep Inc., recruited a stellar group of artists uniquely suited to bringing Guthrie’s words alive.