spoken word reviews

FACT - litcast

2007-02-17T10:48:00.000Z

Check it out: http://www.x-bout.com/fact

Mahogany L. Brown – LadySmyth:Untitled

2006-01-31T23:01:00.000Z

Mo Browne gives us another inspired collection of poetry with a nod to the Hip-Hop generation with some tight music adding atmosphere to the words. As with her other great CD's of poetry she once again takes on some difficult subject matter touching on love, troubled relationships and abuse, and with the hidden track at the end of the CD, having her words stolen by imitators! This one strong lady who is not afraid to speak her mind.

In addition to Mo Browne, we also get a guest appearance by her partner in crime Jive Poetic on ‘Special Circumstances I’, a great piece touching on a man's abuse of a women. Jive is another poet that you should check if get the chance as he always delivers.

Overall this is another strong collection of poetry with some thought provoking subject matter. It doesn’t beat the live experience, you really need to see this girl live to get the real deal, but it’s a good introduction to her work if you haven’t been lucky enough to catch her in the flesh.

If you’re still not convinced to rush out and get your hands on this CD, you check out a couple of her poems on http://www.myspace.com/mahoganylbrowne

review borders event

2005-06-08T10:16:00.000Z

Dear reading mind out there somewhere...

Tuesday 31 may 2005 - 18.30 -

Le maitre des mots was poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes of the
shiny eyes and the curly hair and the ebony skin and
the mischief smile always waiting to burst out -

The venue was Borders Bookshop in Charing Cross Road
in London in UK -

Yet the space was not books so much but music caught
on cds and tapes - a different level - to escape the
noise of visitors using the WC on level one...

The projected poet was John Burnside - The grand
neighbour was le hors d'oevre -

Wild Irish Donal Dempsey told us what love is not and
to see his hand tear open his shirt for the proper
impact of autopsy is an imprint on the rushing mind
space - haiku abracadabra and falling star and love
loses its way opened the way for

The wormlady Elena leading us into the earth moving
with the worm and asking us to be custodians of this
planet - and we learnt about the mystery of pearls -

Ray Burk served encounter and asked what does a day to
me ? with debris of a blowing wind his soft voice
played around with syllables -

Sean Beath pushed at us the question ? what have u
done to make god proud of u ? and told us about faces
i can never forget her face...

x&al danzabel read from day 24.365 a message for
glorissa who will be her greatgranddaughter one time
in time but is not even conceived followed by day
24.382 - one version of suicide in one body - cutting
space and of day 24.375 another suicide in another
body - i am falling -

Margot in her soft voice told us that men are not only
stupid but s o stupid and a soft poetic poem about
the gift - i bring to u myneed and the last poem ended
with ...u worthless little bitch... which was quite a
surprise from the lips of an advanced and English
lady...

Dave of the red tee short showered us with oneness - I
am an a-national - humility - the eternal present -

And then Nii A. Parkes guided us thru the submarine
blues dedicated to the fishermen on the beach of Ghana
-

Marie of the soft voice told us in a poem about the
mother of mybride and activist hell from the viewpoint
of a new yorker surprising words -

Next was Susanne in a floating flower dress sharing
with us the gloom of yesterday and jonny...

We heard more of John Burnside - the featured poetry
book hero - anniversary and appleseed

Le maitre des mots Parkes said that at least 6 poems
he liked and he said that is ..pretty cool.. and of
his poems his poem about ...one day my prince will
come sung with his ghanaian soft voice still lingers
on and on

And Roccolo followed with page 21 - like the
avid quiet of radar and what I believe in, now -
until....

What a necklace of pearl words pressed into such a
short period - the setting was perfect and leaves
memories stirring strange subcell things in all
present and gratitude wells up in between -

Well done - and since there is no payment in coins the
payment was in the sound of clapping hands -

Come and bring your poems -

Read in your own voice -

Play the strings of emotions -

Don't be shy -

You poets
Out there
Somewhere -

review of bloodlines by x&al danzabel

2005-05-26T09:57:00.000Z

On Saturday 21 May 2005 at 8.00 I found myself at the
Albany Theatre - Douglas Way - Deptford - London - I
had read that BBC Radio 3 did a recording for a
broadcast as part of AFRICA LIVES ON THE BBC in
association with Apples & Snakes - and I have the
pleasure of being a faness of the poetess Ebele Ajogbe
who read her story not on the platform but in the
audience holding on to a mango...

The running order started with a silken suit clad
overpowering Segun Lee French running in and out the
following performances of Zena Edwards - Ebele -
Malika Booker - Janine La Rosa - Charlie Dark - Jason
Grant - Jan Blake - Jay Bernard - Tuup - and the whole
evening was produced by Shabina Aslam.

these stories and poems were specially commissioned
about issues of family and slavery and belonging
reflecting and exposing the veins that run through a
shifting landscape to places where the bloodlines were
born.

Ebele's blooline started ... We lived in Emene - the
outskirts - just next to the airport. You could see
big butterfly planes landing, swooping over the tinned
roof huts & the other place where Mama Chi-Chi sold
akara and akamu... and ran right to her persona
holding the mango that evening.

There were some repetitions after the performance to
adapt and edit the evening for send out which I think
is a shame - for the live feeling was perfect for me
with satire and nostalgia and aggression and humour
well mixed and I have fond memories of admiration for
all artists indeed.

With a bloodline not started in Africa I include a
memoriiiiiiiiiessmiiiiiiile
x&al danzabel
xandaldanzabel@yahoo.com

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new Resources site
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/

Kindred Spirit - 16/05/05 review by immpe

2005-05-19T09:36:00.000Z

Lord ha Mercy! I had so much fun at this event, I prayed for the poor soul going through all that pain to counter balance the pleasure I experienced.

Kindred Spirit has a reputation for throwing really, really, ridiculously really good gigs, and they did not fail on this occasion.

The Night started with musical entertainment from the Kindred Family as singer/songwriter, the spectacular JNay, a new member to the family, mounted the stage and did unrealistic Justice to Live it up, written by current music sensation, John Legend.

The follow up was, displaced Greenwich-born, American-raised, currently London-based, poet Deep Cobra. He took the stage bravely, and rightly told us to Breathe (Breathe being the title poem from his latest CD offeringBreathe), a brilliant observation on life, and ended with another equally intricate poem about love. His calm mellow musing set the tone for the night.

In that same tone, Alex Holland who recently performed with Mica Paris on hit TV show Baby One More Time, got and he mic and sang most beautifully about the labours of life and a way to float above it all by putting it to the back of our minds. He certainly achieved that feat.

Next to don the stage was another of the Kindred Family, Its mother, daughter, and naughty lilsister with a delectable voice, Michelle Escoffery. Ahhh, many a moments were spent revelling between the notes as the tight led and vocally blended by Michelle left us hanging to the note tails of the saxophonist, spiralling outta notation control, completely disregarding the rhythm and the beat, but somehow finding it at the apex of eargasms and bring us right back to Earth.

respectful silence for the pleasure/pain theory again, that poor man must have wished for death

Moving on rhapsodically, the first half was ended by male vocalist Charlie Brown.

Smooth vocals, smooth songs, soulful, versatile, sexy, Fresh! As he sang sometimes I am afraid to be myself, I reckon the whole audience completely forgot themselves and wallowed in his story. He is truly a talent to watch out for. Charlie Brown, you heard it right hur on x-bout.com, watch that space.

After the break, the first vocalist was Charlene Hector. The same lady that smiled and sang I wish in the Coca-Cola advert not to long ago has gone on to do bigger and better things and we were privileged to get a taste of em. She sang eloquently with that sweet voice of hers (pleasure pain theory again, pray for that man), about the courage required to rise from heartbreak, about the belief needed to start searching again, about Love.

As she got off the stage to a hemispheric applause, Nii Parkes took the stage, and boy, did he wear it. He started out reading a poem he wrote aged 13 containing phrases that 13 year old boys should know absolutely nothing about. Following this, was a mellow piece written specifically for this performance sitting on an aeroplane up above the world so high. On this occasion, Nii Parkes worked with Kindreds house band, and they worked well, the blend of poetry and mellow music complimented each other beautifully, a feat I have only seen accomplished by Zena Edwards. And to finish of this dazzling set, Nii told us a story disguised as a poem. It was of a recent encounter in which a lady walked up to him and asked Can I have that Erotic poem you just wrote? To which Mister Parkes replied Lady, I dont write erotic poems. Thus began a well choreographed performance, with the band again, of an encounter that led us back to the poetic and often humours definitions of his love poems, in which he said her smile is like a hand on my dick, so walk slowly so I can brace myself Mister Parkes proved once again why he is one of the most talented performance poets in London. Brilliant, brilliant set.

And last, but my no means imaginable, the least, (being the indirect cause of a great percentage of the pain suffered by that poor man who probably would have pawned his own mother to end it all at this point), Natalie Williams took the stage like a butterfly with a bee sting who knows extremely well how to use it. She performed songs form her third album Secret Garden and as well as the kindred band behind, she had her producer, the Mercury prize nominated, Drew Horley on keys, and a trumpeter, the stage was lit. She started of singing butterflies a laid back thoughtful song about an encounter with a butterfly and a piano with a mad jazzy-rhythm and funk to it, and lord ha mercy! can she sing. Following this was more material from her Album a psychedelic song called psychedelic love and one of my faves of the night- you were only meant to borrow my hat with the same vibe as the first one but with added hard beats and her vocals just floating above it all, her backing singers were hot, right there with her all the way. Truly a spectacular Night.

Kindred Spirit is held at THE RHYTHM FACTORY 16-18 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1EW, Nearest Tube, Aldgate East.. for more info, visit the website, www.kindredspirit.org.uk.

The Cellar - 30/04/05 (with Niall O'Sullivan)

2005-05-01T01:02:00.000Z

I really enjoyed this event. Niall O'Sullivan's contagious energy and the collection of 80s theme tunes, which he occasionally let loose from a ghetto blaster behind the microphone were enough to keep anyone going.

I arrived a little late, but just in time to catch the first featured reader, Donal Dempsey, who started his set by almost stripping to the waist! Scary as that may sound, he charmed the audience with a quick series of love poems; tales of how his heart was examined and found wanting, why a woman's nightgown was avoiding him (because he had been making love to it in her absence) etc. He followed with some twisted nursery rhymes noting how death ain't good for the sight and ended his set with a haiku that ended something like "you pull your bra from your sleeve/ you can tell i'm pleased".

In the second half of the evening a couple of people read on the open mike, Marcus Down, who revealed a political activism fantasy, and Akenna who read two poems - the first with the beautiful image of "the bittersweet tooth of youth" stuck somewhere in it.

James Byrne followed with an image filled set that spanned the magnificent hands of his father as they drove past the house he couldn't remember living in, a witch whose words were bullets and heads that nodded like loose buttons.

Niall McDevitt ended the night by breaking his guitar string in the middle of a set that included some dubious pidgin english segments, but was otherwise of good quality.

All the poets had a keen eye for observation and this made for a very sensory night. For my money, The Cellar is doing a great job.

* The Cellar is on every Staurday at the Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, London (near Covent Garden). It starts at 8.00pm and costs £5/3. For information e-mail cellarinfo at gmail dot com

New x magazine out this week

2005-04-10T15:03:00.000Z

Watch out for the new x magazine out this week with work from a wide range of contemporary poets from India to Indianapolis. Since x is the only literary magazine that requires submissions to come from persons who read their work in public, it's bound to have work from someone you've seen reading live before...

Website: www.flippedeye.net/xmag

Way of the word

2005-04-09T23:13:00.000Z

Right from the beginning of x-bout.com in 2001, we have stated the need to have reviews of spoken word events and performances in the same way that there are reviews of music and theatre events; to create standards by which poets / spoken word practitioners can measure themselves. Due to time constraints it has not always been possible to carry on reviewing consistently but, hopefully, this blog will change that. Welcome to the new webbed way of the word...