David Amram and Odetta, together above, were the headliners at a July 18 benefit concert at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery at E. 10th St. and Second Ave. to raise funds for a lawsuit against the Washington Square Park renovation project. The concert was organized by the group Washington Square Preservation and featured works, both in song and in writing, about Greenwich Village past and present. The David Amram Quartet played “Pull My Daisy,” written in Greenwich Village in 1959. Actor Kier Dulla read Mark Twain’s “The Invalid’s Story.” Actress Mia Dillon gave a reading about Washington Square Park. Odetta, though looking a bit frail after a recent hip replacement, brought down the house with “Summertime,” one of two songs she performed. Said Sharon Woolums, one of the event’s organizers, “It was the most beautiful song I ever heard. Suddenly, I was literally sobbing. I thought maybe it was just me, but I turned around and everyone else was crying too.”
