Love, folk pop and spirit in the 'Flow' at Sangha

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by Chris Slattery
Staff Writer

Charles Steck Going with the "Flow:" Len and Wendy Seligman release their debut CD.

Len Seligman's love affair with music goes back a long way; his musical partnership with wife Wendy is newer. But the two passions dovetail on Saturday at Sangha in Takoma Park when Len and Wendy, as the singer/songwriter duo is known, release their debut CD "Flow."

"There are a number of songs that have something in them about flowing," says Seligman, a researcher for Mitre Corporation who has been married to Wendy, a lease administrator for a property management company, since 2003. "'Like a Waterfall.' We call it inspiring and fun mystic folk pop."

At its core are the Seligmans. Len had been, back in the day, a full-time musician years ago who opened for the likes of Phil Ochs; played folk and rock music up the seaboard from Virginia to Maine; and trained as a strolling singer in a restaurant in Hoboken, N.J. For many years, Wendy performed in choirs and small folk groups.

"We met in 2000," says Seligman, "at a party for an organization called Spiritual Singles.

"I found out she was a singer/songwriter like myself, and we started sharing our songs together."

The personal preceded the professional in this case, however.

"I heard her songs and her voice and I said 'Wow!'" he admits. And yet, "Before we started singing together, we fell in love."

Sing Sangha

Where else would a happily married pair of formerly spiritual singles launch their debut? Sangha describes itself as "a fair trade store." It's decorated with art and artifacts from Tibet and other endangered cultures: beaded jewelry from Amazon tribes, figurines created by artists who once lived under apartheid in South Africa, silk bags and scarves manufactured by survivors of Cambodian land mines. Sangha -- the Sanskrit word means "spiritual community" -- has woven a web of connections since Jennifer Carter opened its doors on Sept. 11, 2001, expecting it would be just another day.

For Len and Wendy, spiritual community extends to the guest artists on "Flow."

"The best known of the guest musicians is David Darling," says Seligman. "A Grammy-nominated cello player.

"Also my brother Jon Seligman: He's a professional percussionist, and he's on the faculty at McDaniel College in Westminster."

Both will perform with Len and Wendy on Saturday, as will WAMMIE-nominated multi-instrumentalist Stream Ohrstrom.

"He plays the ney," says Seligman, "which is a Persian reed flute that has a wonderful longing quality to it, which is reminiscent of Rumi."

Rumi is the Sufi poet of love, a 13th century Persian lawyer-philosopher who's just one of the duo's influences.

"I've been playing guitar since the age of 10," Seligman explains. "I played in a rock band in high school."

At 19, he was performing at an open night at The Bitter End in New York's West Village.

"They invited me back for a featured spot," he recalls. "Still unpaid, but very exciting for a 19-year-old."

He played in New York, New Jersey and Boston, then moved into the field of computer programming in the early '80s. Seligman has lived in Silver Spring since 1990, and he and Wendy have been performing together at area clubs since last year.

"We have some fun and funny songs," says Seligman, "and a spiritual side, too."

Saturday evening, though, starts a new chapter.