2019 Poetry & Jazz Fest! Presented in partnership with SOMOS and the Harwood
Poet Ebony Isis Booth
with jazz improvisation by the Alex Murzyn Quartet
Sunday, April 7. 1:00- 3:00 pm / doors open at noon
Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership
FREE show as part of our Sunday mid-day
"Jazz On Tap" series.
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Special Mimosa Brunch on the menu!
Ebony Isis Booth is a performance poet and activist. In her work she strives to shed light on black feminism, racism and inequality, social justice, and, importantly, self love.
Her debut collection, Grinning and Bare was published in 2018. Her poems “The Trouble with Swimming Pools,”
“Burial Costs,” “Say Her Name,” and the “Semantics of Tragedy and Fear” expose the disproportionate number of black youth who have fallen prey to police brutality and hate crimes. She writes,
“Boys in blue tear through black boy flesh
black boys buried in Jordans
we thought they might die for.”
And from "Say Her Name":
Thirteen, dragging a new mop
down Philly street
flip flops, tank top, gum pops
staccato steps ride the rhythm of summer heat.
Ebony is founder of the African American multimedia showcase, Burque Noir, and Honeysuckle Creatives, a consultancy specializing in creative engagement strategies, project management, and event design with people of color in mind. Originally from New Jersey and a long time resident of Denver, Ebony lives in Albuquerque.
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Poet Jamaal May
with jazz improvisation by the John Rangel Trio
April 12, 7:00 pm
Harwood Museum of Art
Tickets $20 / $16 Members of Harwood, SOMOS & Taos Jazz Bebop Society
Call 575-758-9826 to reserve
Jamaal May explores in poetry the "tension between opposites" to render a sonically rich argument for the interconnectivity of people, worlds, and ideas.
May is a native of Detroit. His first book, Hum (2013), won a Beatrice Hawley Award and an American Library Association Notable Book Award and was an NAACP Image Award nominee. Hum explores machines, technology, obsolescence, and community. In an interview, May stated of his first book, “Ultimately, I’m trying to say something about dichotomy, the uneasy spaces between disparate emotions, and by extension, the uneasy spaces between human connection.” May’s poems have appeared widely in journals such as Poetry, New England Review, The Believer, and Best American Poetry 2014. His second collection is The Big Book of Exit Strategies (2016).
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From "Hum For The Hammer":
Be a length of carbon-rich steel,
2,350 degrees Fahrenheit in the open flame
before you are positioned between
two dies, let the pressure have
all of you until you are formed.
Have the flash cut from you;
excess is excessive. Be cooled in water,
not air. Don't breathe. Drown.
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John Rangel, pianist and composer, is an imaginative and deft master of improvisation– and has accompanied poets in Taos performances for several years. His versatility as a jazz pianist is evident in his work with the following artists; Nat Adderly, Marcus Printup, Ira Sullivan, Bobby Shew, Sam Rivers, Ravi Coltrane, Pharaoh Saunders, Sonny Fortune and Billy Higgins– to name only a few.
This free concert is made possible by a grant from the Peter & Madeline Martin Foundation For The Creative Arts.