Paul Simon has been the news lately, spending time in the gulf coast region and lending a hand to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. He also performed a beautiful version of “Take Me To The Mardi Gras” with a New Orleans jazz band last Friday as part of “Shelter From The Storm,” a network television benefit show (akin to the post-9/11 “America: A Tribute To Heroes”). Looking forward, Paul and Art are scheduled to be part of a benefit show at MSG (on September 20) and Paul will support Wynton Marsalis’s effort this Saturday night at Lincoln Center (check your PBS listings).
In 1987, Paul and a New York physician named Irwin Redlener launched the Children’s Health Fund, using mobile medical units to provide health care to New York’s homeless children. After Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992, the CHF sent some units to provide relief. They found that the units were perfect for the kind of medical care needed in the wake of a natural disaster - when infrastructue destruction makes equipment inaccessible. Paul, Dr. Redlener and the CHF are hoping to purchase ten more units, at US $300,000 each. You can do your part - if you’ve been holding off on supporting Katrina relief, consider the CHF. Visit the organization online at www.childrenshealthfund.org.
Without further ado, I give you Paul Simon peforming “Take Me To The Mardi Gras” from “Shelter From The Storm”:
