Pete Seeger's Legacy Lives On in "Pete Seeger: The Storm King" Feb. 6

As an activist, he was revered. As a unionist, he was unwavering. As a musician, he was legendary.

Folk musician Pete Seeger is best known for the songs he wrote that shaped an American generation, among them “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and the anti-Vietnam War anthem “Bring ‘Em Home.” Inseparable from his musical output was his passion for promoting civil rights, labor rights, racial equality, environmental consciousness and his boundless hope for humanity.

Mr. Seeger was blacklisted by the House Unamerican Activities Committee based on his 1955 testimony wherein he refused to give up the names of his friends accused of communist activities. In 1961 he was convicted of contempt of Congress and sentenced to 10 years in jail, a conviction that would be overturned on appeal 14 months later.

However, while blacklisted and facing difficulty performing in the United States, Mr. Seeger began traveling the world. He traveled to India, Africa and Australia, performing and picking up international musical styles along the way. During this time he and his wife Toshi filmed a documentary on steel drums from Trinidad and Tobago. Through his folk band The Weavers, Seeger brought the South African song “Wimoweh” to the States, the song that would later become “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

Mr. Seeger’s admiration and political concern for the world’s cultures and traditions is highlighted in “Pete Seeger: The Storm King,” presented by the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on Feb. 6. The performance is based on the Grammy-nominated audio project of the same name conceived and produced by Grammy award-winning percussionist and producer Jeff Haynes, with whom Mr. Seeger worked.

Mr. Haynes was familiar with Mr. Seeger’s music, but upon learning about his humanitarianism and activism, the percussionist yearned to create a project on the folk singer and his incredible stories.

“The Storm King” features Mr. Seeger’s words in his own recorded voice, with his stories and poems, accompanied by musicians playing new music and music written by or popularized by Mr. Seeger in styles from around the world.

Seeger’s political interests were many and wide-ranging. His dream of a more just and equal world led him to champion global causes, and one of those was organized labor.

“Labor and work links almost everyone in the world together,” said Cal State Long Beach sociology professor Jake Wilson, whose research interests include labor and working-class issues. “Really labor is one of the fundamental aspects of the human experience.”

Dr. Wilson’s forthcoming book takes its title, “Solidarity Forever,” from a song popularized by Mr. Seeger.

“I open with the lyrics to Solidarity Forever, and the first time I heard that song was Pete Seeger’s version,” Dr. Wilson said. “Seeger was always committed to the labor struggle and the struggle of working people for dignity, respect and justice in the workplace.”

Mr. Seeger passed away in 2014, but his ideas, his music and his commitment to global causes lives on in the work of Mr. Haynes, Dr. Wilson, and the many others he has influenced across the world.

“Pete Seeger: The Storm King” Feb. 6 2016 8 p.m. (562) 985-7000