'Gathering Time' appears at Temple Am Echad

In a creative twist on the Friday night Shabbat service, the folk-rock harmony trio “Gathering Time” will perform songs of the spirit and social conscience made popular by iconic folk group Peter, Paul & Mary at Temple Am Echad (formerly Temple Emanu-El) of Lynbrook on Friday, April 30 at 7:15 p.m.

The Long Island-based trio, made up of Stuart Markus, Glen Roethel, and Hillary Foxsong, is frequently compared in sound to the folk legends who rose to popularity in the folk wave of the early 1960s. They are currently touring in the northeast, and have performed Peter, Paul & Mary's music regularly over the nearly four years they've been together.

“We've played a number of concerts and tribute shows in churches that have folk music series,” said Markus. “This will be the first time we've actually done one as part of a religious service.”

Many Peter, Paul & Mary's songs had a decidedly spiritual bent to them, even if they did not mention God or a particular religion specifically, explained Cantor Jerry Korobow of Temple Am-Echad, himself a folk musician for many years. They also played a number of old-time spirituals like “Rock My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” and “All My Trials.”

Korobow and Markus — who is the only Jewish person in the trio — worked together with the synagogue's Rabbi Glenn Jacob to plan which songs will match up with which prayers during the service. “To make the most of the music, this service, we'll be a bit lighter on the liturgy,” Korobow said. In place of the rabbi's sermon, Gathering Time will play a mini-set of their original songs, which also feature a spiritual, socially conscious bent.

“Music can be a form of worship, even for the non-religious,” Korobow explained. “It's a way to open the heart, and the spirit, to the most important human values.”

People of all faiths are invited to the service, and to bring an instrument for the guided open sing immediately after, about 8:30 p.m. There is no admission fee.

Temple Am-Echad is located at One Saperstein Plaza, immediately north of the Lynbrook LIRR station. Call (516) 593-4004 for more information.