Spoken-word work gets right to the point

CD review: Spoken-word work
gets right to the point
By John Ziegler, Duluth News Tribune

He can come on like a freight train. Words are his medium. He will make you laugh. He will make you cry. He will make you think.

His name is E.G. Bailey and his brand-new release “American Afrikan” combines spoken word, poetry and music to explore what it is to be an Afrikan in America today. It doesn’t just skim along the surface in that exploration, it heaves from below like a bulldozer churning up slabs of concrete, tree roots and old asphalt in its quest — Bailey leading the narrative charge.

Using language like John Coltrane used the tenor or soprano saxophone, Bailey — together with friends such as Aimee Bryant, Katrah Quey, Sha Cage, Hipgrosis, D.J.Limbs, plus African poets Ibe Kaba and Sankaradjeki; Dubai jazz ensemble Abstract Collision, and Mankwe Mdosi, the singer from Atmosphere — uses bits of pre-recorded sound, field recordings (including Liberian work songs from the Mano Tribe) and jazz. He rails, he whispers, he implores, he exhorts and subtly weaves his spell.

“K Street Blues: The Bailout Plan” sounds like it could have been Sonny Rollins captured on the Williamsburg Bridge in 1952 talking to the skyline with his horn.

“America” is Bailey (with Abstract Collision giving an eerie, angular backdrop) holding a mirror up to our own country with all its actions and how they have morphed over time. “America with your varicose veins and Catholic guilt, I fear you and I love you … America, it’s getting harder to defend you.”

Aimee Bryant’s stirring multi-tracked version of “Motherless Child” is a riveting take on this black spiritual.

“Afrikan is the New American” has an almost Prince-like groove smothered in chicken grease.

Bailey is the real deal. He has created spoken word dynamics in film, theater and recordings during his travels through this country as well as England, South Africa, France and Serbia. He is the founder of the MN Spoken Word Association, Tru Ruts Endeavors and the Spoken Word and Hip Hop Institute at the University of Minnesota. He’s been inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in the New York Modern Museum of Art.

“American Afrikan” is not just a journey but an adventure that, during February’s Black History Month, explores identity, history, culture and what it means to be black in America today.

The CD release of this wonderful piece of art takes place Saturday evening at the Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis and should not be missed.

E.G. Bailey / “American Afrikan”
Genre: Spoken word/Poetry/Jazz/Hip Hop/Electronica
Label: Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records
Web site: http://www.egbailey.com, myspace.com/egbailey
Produced by: E.G. Bailey and Ben Durant

Upcoming show: Saturday at 9:30 p.m., the CD release party at the Bedlam Theatre, Minneapolis. Cost $5. Ages 18 and older. Includes special guests Guante, Sha Cage, Mankwe Ndosi, Ibe Kaba and more.

John Ziegler has worked in the music industry for the past 35 years as a radio host, interviewer, record producer and professional musician.

Sha Cage chosen as Women’s Press Changemaker 2009

Changemaker 2009:
Shá Cage and Teen Summit
Youth event links art, activism, leadership
by Michele St. Martin

“We helped everyone remember that we are ALL living and breathing changemakers. We all possess the potential to be a leader.” – Shá Cage

It was girl-powered leadership that revolutionized the annual Teen Summit, said organizer Shá Cage. This noted local poet, actor and spoken-word artist is also the artistic director of the Minnesota Spoken Word Association (MNSWA), which sponsors the annual one-day event in partnership with a number of organizations. For the first two years of the four-year-old Teen Summit, attendance had been between 35 and 50.

The event, which links art, activism and leadership, mixed it up a bit last year. Working with MNSWA’s Youth Liberation Poets Ensemble (a youth board), Cage made a concerted effort to attract girls. The result? There were 160 participants. And, Cage said, “Usually, we have about one-third female attendees. [In 2008] 80 percent of our participants were female.” Participants attend at no cost.

Cage particularly wanted to focus on young women because of her experience working on issues of domestic violence and abuse of girls. The goal of the day is to help participants see themselves as leaders and to link art and activism in the budding leaders’ consciousness.

The day consists of games, listening exercises, presentations and performance. There are frequent check-ins and small-group discussions. “We start with the art,” Cage said, explaining that a self-affirming performance by the Youth Liberation Poets gets participants going; it’s key that they see youth artist/activists in action.

One of the day’s exercises: having all participants declare their own beauty. Cage explained, “We asked, for example: ‘How many of you can say you are beautiful?'” With the help of Cage and other adult and youth mentors, all attendees were able to claim their beauty.

About the 2008 and 2009 Summits, Cage said, “I believe we helped the youth to think about the world … not just through a new lens but through multiple ones. We were incredibly successful in cross-pollinating communities-those from the metro inner city with those from rural areas who don’t ordinarily have a lot of access [to each other].

“We helped everyone remember that we are ALL living and breathing changemakers,” Cage continued. “We all possess the potential to be a leader. The real difference is made in the nitty-gritty work … allow[ing] them to sit in a circle and encourag[ing] them to lead and drive the conversation. [We] nurture them to go … beyond identifying what’s wrong in the world … to designing corrective strategies.

“We communicated that young voices matter … that strong young women are important and that young men and boys are also part of the conversation.” Partnerships are key in putting together the event and in pulling it off, Cage said. One key partner has been the girl-led positive body-image group, Girls in Motion-Minnesota. Partners mainly contribute in-kind; the major challenge is financial. There’s been lots of planning and interest; the only thing lacking for the 2010 Summit is the money. Cage hopes to make it happen.

Be the change!
Come to a MNSWA “Literally Speaking” evening, a one-hour workshop led by leading spoken word artists, followed by a one-hour open mic for participants. First Thursday of each month from 5-7 p.m., MNSWA Youth Zone/offices at 1224 Quincy St. N.E., Suite 140, Minneapolis. There is no charge.

Drop a check in the mail: Donations are needed to make the 2010 Teen Summit a reality. Checks less than $50 should be made out to MNSWA; over $50 to Springboard. Put Teen Summit on the memo line. Send to MNSWA at the address shown above.

FFI: http://www.myspace.com/mnspokenwordassociation

Original post in Women’s Press on 6 December 2009.