BRATTLEBORO — The Windham County NAACP cordially invites the public to attend its third Annual Freedom Fund Dinner, featuring “A Celebration of Our Community with Song,” on Saturday, Aug. 13, at 5 p.m. outdoors at Retreat Farm.
The hour-long songfest preceding the dinner will be led by Dr. Samuel L. Waymon of Nyack, N.Y. Dr. Waymon is the brother of legendary singer/activist, Nina Simone, and was her organist, confidante, bandmate, and tour manager as they toured the world together.
Waymon is an award-winning composer, singer, pianist, arranger/producer, and actor and has shared the concert stage with Miles Davis, Odetta, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Quincy Jones, Donny Hathaway, Phyllis Hyman, Max Roach, and many others in addition to his sister.
Dr. Waymon is a Civil Rights activist who marched in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and Alabama, and sang at the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. His composition, You've Got to Learn, can be heard in Spike Lee's film, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, and he was co-producer of the recent documentary, The Amazing Nina Simone, directed by Jeff Lieberman.
Waymon composed music for the Academy-Award-winning film Philadelphia, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks. In 1987, Waymon was musical advisor and co-starred with Nick Nolte in the film Weeds. He also had a starring role and composed the music for the Cannes Film Festival award-winning movie, Ganja & Hess, written and directed by Bill Gunn.
Sam “Magic Man” Waymon will bring all his talents to Retreat Farm as he performs and leads the audience in singing freedom songs, gospel, and Americana.
This portion of the program will be followed by box dinners and the main program, honoring retiring U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Go to WindhamNAACP.org for tickets and info.