WatchThis episode is dedicated to the memory of Kenyan-American jazz vocalist Gabrielle Agachiko
FEATURED SONGWRITERS: GABRIELLE AGACHIKO: When The Water’s Gone, JAMES KAHN: NO More A’Whaling, RICK ARNOLDI: We Are The River (Sung By MaryEdna Salvi), WATERMELON SLIM: Black Water, HOSTED BY PURLY RAE GATES
ABOUT the SONGWRITERS and their SONGS
Jazz singer Gabrielle Agachiko was born in Kenya, and trained at the Julliard School of Music. Her song, When the Water is Gone, asks us not to keep our heads buried in the sand about the effects of drought on the planet. If we wait until the water is gone from rivers and lakes, it will be too late to act. We all have to do what we can – and the first step is to wake up, pay attention, and see the problem for what it is.
James Kahn’s No More a’Whalin’ is a take on a modern sea shanty about saving whales instead of harpooning them. It tells of the majesty of these beautiful deep sea creatures, a species in decline in part because some countries still kill them, and partly because their habitats are being so altered by climate change.
We Are the River, written and arranged by Rick Arnoldi, is sung by MaryEdna Salvi in this R & B take on a song Rick wrote in the late 60’s. Picked up by various groups working for social change, it became a small part of anonymous oral tradition. Inspired by an actual river (Connecticut’s Natchaug) and by the peace and justice movements of the sixties, the song embodies all the rivers that start as tiny streams, joining others on their way to the sea, unstoppable by man-made dams and levees. Floods are coming, the response of the rivers to our attempted control – and loss of control – of nature. And the power of the sea reflects the power of the people yearning to be free.
Black Water, by Watermelon Slim, is a hard rockin’ Gulf Coast electric blues about the muck that was left flooding the streets after Hurricane Katrina hit, leaving so many living in tent cities. Climate change is making hurricanes more destructive every year, and Slim asks, after all the money this country spends on war, why is there so precious little left to help the victims of these terrible storms.
SONG CREDITS – EPISODE 9: Water
Podcast Theme excerpted from ‘Back To Life’
Artist/Composer: Seth Handelman
Recorded at Autumn Leaf Studios – Nashua, New Hampshire
Saxophones, Guitars – Seth Handelman
Bass, Drum Track – Alan J. King
Recording Engineer: Alan J. King
© 2022 Seth Handelman
Title: No More a’ Whaling
Artist: James Kahn
Music and Lyrics © 2022 James Kahn
James Kahn – Lead Vocal
David West – Harmony Vocals, Banjo
Doug Clegg – Harmony Vocals
Adam Phillips – Pastoral Bagpipes
Rebecca Troon – Bodhran
Produced, Shot and Directed by James Kahn
Edited by Sinead Santich
Thanks To Pond 5 and Video
Follow JamesKahnEntertainment
Title: Black Water
Artist: Watermelon Slim and the Workers
William P. Homans (Watermelon Slim) – Vocals, Slide Guitar
Ronnie McMullen Jr – Guitar
Clifford Belcher – Bass
Mike Newbury – Drums
Live at the Ground Zero Blues Club May 12, 2007
Clarksdale, Mississippi
© 2010 NorthernBlues Music
Title: We Are The River
Words and music by Rick Arnoldi
© Rick Arnoldi: (music, lyrics, arrangement, guitar)
MaryEdna Salvi: vocals
Tom Beaver: co-arranger, keyboards, trumpet
Nashid Abdul Khaliq: bass
Roscoe Hamer: drums
Daryl Lowry: tenor and alto sax
Paul Arnoldi: engineer
Brian Morris: re-mix
© Outliers Moving Pictures: videography
for CoolTuneCrew (thirdact.org) 2025
Title: When The Water Is Gone
‘The Climate Message’ featuring Gabrielle Agachiko – Voice
Artist: Gabrielle Agachiko
Lyric by Gabrielle Agachiko
Music by Cara Smith
- Vocals – Gabrielle Agachiko
- Bass – Blake Newman
- Drums – Phil Neighbors
- Flute – Ken Field
- Tenor Saxophone – Russ Gershon
- Trumpet – Scott Detchell
- Guitar – Sam Davis
- Mastered By – Ian Kennedy
- Producer – Frank Coakley
- Engineer – Damon Leibert
From the CD “Yes’ by Agachiko
Accurate Records AC-5063
Podcast Host:
Purly Rae Gates
Video/ Audio Support:
Outlier Moving Pictures – Pam Falkenberg and Jack Cochran
Additional Artist Information:
The opinions shared by the hosts and guests on this program are solely their own, and do not necessarily represent those of Third Act.
Climate Change Organizations: