It began this way. Jean stepped down onto the grass on the Mall and the sun broke through the lowering clouds just at sunset.

    Jean and her son Jon were the closing act in this evening concert on the Mall. The white tent, the Harmony Stage of the Appalachian section of the Folklife Festival on the Mall, lay nearly halfway between the Capital and The Washington Monument,and surrounded by the museums and gallerys of the Smithsonian.

    The large tent was packed and many stood gathered around it. The crowd had already given standing ovations to Will Keys, two-finger style banjo player from Gray, Tennessee and Clyde Davenport, a long-bowing fiddler from Jamestown, Tennessee.

    Jean and Jon were greeted with great affection and respect, with many applauding during the introduction. Jean was at her best, stirred, I think, by greeting a friend from Scotland whom she had met during her stay there in the early 50's on a Fullbright scholarship. The high, haunting quality of her voice riveted the crowd, who sat rapt and attentive. With her son Jon, she sang many wonderful songs and accompanied herself on dulcimer and autoharp while Jon played the banjo.

    My favorite of the night was Loving Hannah, but there were so many. Jon has a beautiful voice, and sang marvelous harmonies of surpassing intricacy.

    It was a stellar night and Jean Ritchie and Jon were brilliant.