02/17/2020
WEST VILLAGE WORD, a monthly curation at the legendary Cafe Bohemia by poet and jazz journalist John Pietaro, launches Wednesday Feb 26, 8PM.
Puma Perl, downtown's own rock & roll poet, takes the first set into party mode with her ensemble, Puma Perl & Friends, to present a rollicking series of emotive urban adventures and sound-painting. The band includes Warhol protege, violinist Walter Steding, saxophonist Danny Ray, guitarist Joff Wilson, bassist Joe Stzabnik and drummer Dave Donen.
Following will be a riveting social justice-laden performance by singer-songwriter/poet and actress Lindsey Wilson and her Human Hearts: Reggie Sylvester, drums, Michael Trotman, bass and guest Bryan McCune, cornet, up from North Carolina.
Prior to each set will be brief segments by SHADOWS, the duo of series curator John Pietaro (poetry, guitar) and lead electric bassist Laurie Towers performing works from Pietaro's recently published chapbook "Smoke Rings".
The series, planned for the last Wednesday of each month, will present integrated spoken word and music, conjuring Greenwich Village's underground arts past while exploring today’s unique JazzPoetry, Neo-Beat and Post-Punk verse..
AND ON MARCH 25, we present
--noted drummer Ronnie Burrage reading poetry of his grandfather Allen David Mahr and playing solo.
--"Celebrating Cecil!" in honor of free jazz pioneer Cecil Taylor's birth anniversary with Elliot Levin, John Blum and Jackson Krall.
--The Mother of All Finales: a Women's History Month blow out with an all-female ensemble of instrumentalists and poets! Line-up TBA.
Café Bohemia was a favorite 1950s haunt of jazz legends such as Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and Cannonball Adderly as well as the original Beat Generation writer, Jack Kerouac. The club, recently re-opened in its original address, is already being touted as a space for a creative community displaced by ever-rising costs. “The heritage of this place is built into its foundation”, Café Bohemia manager Christine Santelli states. “You can feel it. Between 1955 and ’60, most every jazz great played here and many recorded live on the club’s stage”.
The space’s history goes back to the 1940s when, as the Pied Piper, it hosted stride piano pioneer James P. Johnson and traditional jazz trumpeter Max Kaminsky.
With live music scheduled seven nights per week—from the “cool” progressive and trad “hot” jazz schools, blues and folk, and a new residency by noted singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked, the club’s promise has quickly been realized. “All that was missing was performance poetry”, said West Village Word curator Pietaro. “Hey, the Beats walked these quarters”.
West Village Word
February 26, 8-11pm
Admission: $20
Café Bohemia
15 Barrow Street, New York NY CafeBohemia.com
