Hailed as a “truth-telling visionary” by Brass Magazine and a “lyrical prophet” by the Caymanian Compass, CARLOS ANDRÉS GÓMEZ is a leading voice at the vanguard of the oral poetry movement. The iconic slam poet, actor, and playwright was called "a must-see" and given five out of five stars by Hairline Magazine in England. A former social worker and public school teacher, Gómez has performed at over 100 colleges and universities and toured across North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa. He is the 2006 Toronto International Poetry Slam Champion and a two-time National Poetry Slam Finalist – once as a member of the renowned Nuyorican Poets Café's Slam Team that finished 2nd, and later with the NYC/louderARTS Slam Team that finished 3rd in the U.S. He co-stars in Spike Lee's number one box office smash hit film, "INSIDE MAN" (Universal Pictures) – selected as one of AFI's 10 Most Outstanding Motion Pictures of 2006 – with a lead role alongside Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, and Clive Owen. He appears on the sixth season of HBO's "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry" – voted "Favorite Poet" of his episode by viewers. Most recently, he collaborated with Tony Award-winning tap dance legend Savion Glover at The Town Hall on Broadway. Their much lauded performance, featured as part of the Nuyorican Poets Café’s “Aloud and Alive at 35” anniversary show, received a standing ovation from the sold-out audience.
GÓMEZ won a Rocky Mountain Emmy® Award for his starring role in the groundbreaking "Respect Yourself" television spots, for which he was also a writer, and appears on the third season of the popular Showtime series "The L Word." His first full-length CD, "Carlos Andrés Gómez: Live from New York,” was unanimously chosen as the winner of the 2006 L.A. Music Award for Spoken Word Album of the Year. He has been showcased on the mun2 show "Vivo," appeared on Telemundo's "Así Está El Mundo," been a spotlight on MyNetworkTV/Sí TV's "LatiNation," and was just profiled in his own episode of "Hollywood Life," a T.V. show out of Japan – all of these appearances coming on the heels of him gracing the cover of the February 2007 issue of Brass Magazine. His theater credits include a starring role alongside Ursula Rucker in the world premiere of Grammy-nominated composer/musician Hannibal Lokumbe’s acclaimed production, “Trilogy,” as well as a leading role in “Union Square,” directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj (“A Raisin in the Sun” / ”Damn Yankees”), that opened the Genesis Theater Festival at the Crossroads Theater. A much sought-after performer in the international spotlight, he was one of the headline acts on the MTV-U sponsored Fight Apathy National Tour and did a month-long run of his critically acclaimed one-man play, "MAN UP," at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
Gómez is the proud founder of The Excelano Project (“E.P.”) at the University of Pennsylvania. Known as the perennial powerhouse of the collegiate poetry slam scene, The Excelano Project took the National Championship Title at the 2007 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational just three years after sending its first team of rookies – coached by Gómez – who finished 4th in the nation. The performance poetry group has established its unprecedented legacy by reaching the national finals stage in all of the five years that it has competed. 2007 also saw three of E.P.'s then younger poets defend their College Unions' National Title as members of the Philly Youth National Slam Team that won the Championship Title at the Brave New Voices 2007 International Youth Poetry Slam.
Over the past 8 years, Gómez has shared the stage with a diverse range of celebrated artists and icons, including Wyclef Jean, Amiri Baraka, MC Lyte, Yosef Komunyakaa, Rosie Pérez, Ishmael Reed, Ntozake Shange, Quincy Troupe, Toots and The Maytals, Immortal Technique, Reel Big Fish, David Banner, Pete Rock, Suzanne Vega, Saul Williams, and Mos Def. He splits his time between New York City and Los Angeles.
To book CARLOS for a college/university show or other engagement:
booking@carloslive.com
LATEST NEWS:
This fall Carlos will be the United States poetry representative at the Poetry Africa Festival in Durban, South Africa as well as an invited guest at the Kosmopolis International Festival of Literature in Barcelona, Spain. In May he wrapped his 26-date REBEL WITH A CAUSE NATIONAL TOUR – a year-long campaign that visited colleges and universities across the United States. He is a Creative Producer and Mentor of the groundbreaking new documentary film MYTH OF THE MOTHERLAND, which will follow young writers/poets as they embark on a creative writing journey through diverse African countries to meet with African scholars, writers, griots, artists, and others to address myths and biases about the Mother Continent. Coinciding with filming scheduled to take place in September, Gómez will travel to Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda to engage in research for a new one-man play – “A World Without Fathers” – for which he was just awarded a 2008 HARLEM STAGE Fund for New Work Grant to write and develop the piece.
REVIEWS
“Carlos Andrés Gómez is a truth-telling visionary.”
– Sarah Higginbotham, Brass Magazine (United States)
“Gómez lays himself bare…a quarter of the audience shed tears yet the show was uplifting.”
– Bernie Greenwood, Hairline Magazine (United Kingdom)
“When New York poet Carlos Andrés Gómez gets on stage, all the Hollywood silliness leaks out of the room…He performs with his whole body as if he’s conducting an orchestra of explosions.”
– Mindy Nettifee, Ism Quarterly (United States)
“Carlos Andrés Gómez is the voice of a nation…[He] proves that there are always men fighting in the underground creating a war. A war of words. A war of spirit. A conscious war.”
– Martin Hamelin, Le Monde (France)
“Carlos Andrés Gómez terrorizes a microphone with a rapid fire abandon…Some people write poetry. Yet others act like poets. Beyond them are the toilers, the true artisans of the word. This is the rarest breed.”
– Emanuel Jalonschi, Beyond Race Magazine (United States)
“Carlos Andrés Gómez is the new New Yorker super poet and top spoken word star.”
– Rayl Patzak, Claudio de das Hörportal (Germany)
“Powerfully raw yet breathtakingly intimate poems...a poetry slam star.”
– Andrew Z. Galarneau, The Buffalo News (United States)
“Gómez’s performance is part classic artiste and part lyrical prophet. Think Keats, meets Bob Marley meets Tupac Shakur.”
– Searlina Bodden, Caymanian Compass (Cayman Islands)
VIDEO OF POEM "ALL WE HAVE"
CARLOS & SAVION GLOVER
ON BROADWAY (THE TOWN HALL, NYC)
VIDEO OF POEM "DISTINCTLY BEAUTIFUL"
(FROM UPCOMING LIVE DVD)
a poem about his experiences as a public school teacher in NYC and his adolescent students doing the "distinctly beautiful" exercise.
Join the DISTINCTLY BEAUTIFUL facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14894985121
(cut and past URL into browser after you sign in)
Fight back against a world that tells you that you are not enough.
VIDEO OF "WHAT'S GENOCIDE?"
(HBO'S DEF POETRY SEASON 6, EPISODE 41)
VOTE FOR CARLOS' PERFORMANCE: http://www.hbo.com/defpoetry/episodes/season6/episode03.html
LEARN MORE ABOUT CARLOS' JOURNEY -- SPOTLIGHT ON "LATINATION"
(MY NETWORK TV / SíTV) JAN. '07
FOR BEST VIEWING -- ALLOW TIME FOR VIDEOS TO LOAD FULLY BEFORE WATCHING
Become friends with Carlos on FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=620876
(cut and past URL into browser after you sign in)
Keep up with Carlos' latest gigs and touring - join his FACEBOOK GROUP:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21169380208
(cut and past URL into browser after you sign in)
*** PLEASE TAKE NOTE ***
Due to his schedule, this page is maintained by an outside administrator. Carlos will respond if and when time permits.
Our bridge has grown by one more stone ! Please allow me to introduce the fun inside the Slamophone …
It all started with the idea that SLAM is too live, too diverse, each syllable - unsellable, every ephemerical verse being too fierce to be coerced … Plus, this new cuisine needs no chef ! Tables are turning everywhere, and France cannot be left for deaf.
So with camera in hand, we've taken the country by storm; videalistic is the spirit, originality the norm. We started out with 50 vids, now we are up to 360, from Montreal down to Marseille, from Pointe-à-Pitre to Gai Paree.
Take any door and come on in. Be curious, you will be served : 360 clips around our way, 360 clicks around the word …
um YAY?!? thanks so much for the add..seriously. lol I've become ADDICTED to your poetry....I have to listen to "All We Have" and "What's Genocide" at least once a day or I become spaz-tastic. >__<
you rock so hard. (I'm sure you know this already tho =P )
It was so good to see you again!!!!! I would love to see you again soon...maybe I'll be able to see one of your performances or something. We'll have to plan our trip to Mexico!!! I'm so proud of you! Take care.
