Northeast Poetry Center’s Distinguished Visiting Poet Kirpal Gordon to Appear with Noted Jazz Musicians
Kirpal Gordon and his Speak-Spake-Spoke Jazz Band will perform on August 13 at 4 p.m. at the College of Poetry, 7 West Street, Warwick, in the room behind Utopian Direction Books and Art with a reception to follow. Admission is free.
The Northeast Poetry Center’s Distinguished Visiting Poet for the summer of 2011, Gordon is a widely acclaimed exponent of the fusion of jazz and literature. National Public Radio’s Lara Pellegrinelli wrote, “Hearing Gordon’s poetry with his band is like seeing Salvador Dali’s paintings: he’s a shape shifter of the first order.” All About Jazz’s Fred Boucher wrote, “Precise of word and rhyme and ready of wit, Gordon’s pairing poems with pearls of jazz and his erudition in world lit add further dimensions to his verbal inventions.” Time Out New York’s Steve Smith wrote, “If you think the notion of mixing jazz and poetry is hopelessly old-fashioned, let his swinging scansion and vivid imagery relieve you of that perception. No two ways about it, Gordon swings.” Soundzine’s Vernon Frazer wrote, “He differs from most jazz poetry in two ways: his ear is tuned to the jazz vocal tradition and his musicians interpret a repertoire that incorporates bop, swing, standards, pop and classical compositions with a musical freshness that corresponds to the vigor of his language.”
His Speak-Spake-Spoke band features the multiple award winning Baritone Saxophonist of the Year (Annual Downbeat Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association) Claire Daly (visit ClaireDalyMusic.com), the remarkable Arthur Kell on bass (see ArthurKell.com) and the much acclaimed Carlton Holmes on piano (check CarltonHolmes.com).
The first set will feature material from Gordon’s latest book of fiction, Ghost & Ganga: A Jazz Odyssey, wrapped around the music of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, James Brown, and Louis Armstrong. The second set will highlight work from Gordon’s Eros and Sanskrit: Lyrics and Meditations, 2007-1977 and its accompanying CD, Speak-Spake-Spoke. Since all three band members are also excellent composers in their own right, they will perform some of their original tunes set to what interviewer Norman Ball called “Gordon’s unique synthesis of lyric poetry, spoken word prose, word-music and magical incantation which succeeds precisely it defies category.”
For further information see KirpalG.com, www.collegeofpoetry.com or write This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
This event is funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc. with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.