Jeff Robinson - Sax
St. Louis Missouri native, composer, radio disc jockey, actor, director, playwright and poet, Jeff started the band in 1995 as a bridge between music and theatre. Jeff is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, where he studied with saxophonists Bill Pierce and George Garzone. He’s studied theatre with Oleg Tabakov, Artistic Director of the legendary Moscow Art Theatre Company and Shakespeare scholar Kristin Linklater. Jeff’s one man show about jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker entitled “Live Bird” has appeared on off-Broadway and Charlie Parker’s home town of Kansas City Missouri. Jeff has been nominated for several Independent Reviewers of New England Awards (IRNE) for his work as an actor and director. His radio show “Poetry Jam” is aired on WMBR 88.1 FM in Cambridge and is streamed live via the internet.
Jerome Deupree - Drums
Started playing at age 6. Self taught. His influences include British invasion, Blues and Jazz. World Music, and more. Playing professionally at 14. After finishing high school in 1975, he’s lived in Indiana and California before moving to Boston in 1981. he currently freelancing with a number of groups and singers. He’s worked in a wide range of musical styles…. Folk, Free jazz, Big Band, Rock, Pop, Country Western, Rockabilly and he’s even marched with a Fife and Drum corps. Jerome has performed with Either Orchestra, John Mellencamp, Patti Griffin and was the original drummer for Morphine.
Blake Newman - Bass
A New York native and graduate of Berklee College of Music, began playing double bass at the age of twelve and electric bass three years later. After years of classical training, he decided to move to Boston to study jazz. Throughout his career, Blake has striven for diverse musical experiences. He spent six years performing and recording with West African Mbalax band, Ibrahima Camara and Safal, culminating in a tour of Senegal in 1997. Blake has appeared in several productions at the American Repertory Theatre. He has recorded and toured with composer, clarinet player Evan Ziporyn and blues keyboardist Bruce Katz. He has written music for plays, dance companies and is also a very in demand private teacher. Blake is also a martial arts expert.
On August 28, 2007 Poetry Jam Collective and Rounder Records released Next On The Mic, a compilation CD of spoken word accompanied by improvisational music. The album was recorded live in Cambridge, MA at the Lizard Lounge Poetry Jam and with a live studio audience at Hi-N-Dry studios. The album will be sold exclusively online at www.rounder.com.
Every Sunday for more than 10 years, poets and musicians have gathered for the Poetry Jam at the Lizard Lounge, for what some call "church." The poets preach, teach, cry, pray, confess, inspire, slay demons and speak in tongues. Next On The Mic captures some of the best "sermons" delivered and features some of the most acclaimed performance poets in the U.S. in addition to up-and-comers: including award winning poets Patricia Smith, Quincy Troupe and Askia Touré; poetry slam champions Regie Gibson, Bryonn Bain (BET host), and Iyeoka Okoawo along with promising talents Nicole Terez and Eric Darby. The poetry is accompanied by the Jeff Robinson Trio who are called the "best poetry band in the land" by many outstanding performance poets.
The collaboration between the poets and musicians on the CD is inspirational and immediate. The musicians improvise to the images the poets present. Various themes are interwoven throughout the album, from music icons James Brown and Miles Davis to hope, war, sex and politics.
Next On The Mic is produced by actor/saxophonist Jeff Robinson who is also the founder of Poetry Jam Collective, an assembly of poets who collaborate nationally to produce events, recordings of spoken word, poetry, comedy and music. The collective originated at the Lizard Lounge Poetry Jam and is based in Cambridge, MA.
Patricia Smith's latest poetry book, Teahouse of the Almighty, was chosen by Edward Sanders as a 2005 National Poetry Series winner (Coffee House Press), and was also awarded the 2007 Paterson Poetry Prize. She is also the author of three previous books of poetry -- Close to Death (Zoland Books), Big Towns, Big Talk (Zoland Books) and Life According to Motown (Tia Chucha). Her poems have appeared in The Paris Review, The Chautauqua Literary Journal, TriQuarterly, and other journals, and in many groundbreaking anthologies--most recently Gathering Ground, The Spoken Word Revolution, The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry and Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry. Her poem "The Way Pilots Walk" received a Pushcart Prize, and will appear in Pushcart Prize XXXII: Best of the Small Presses.
Poet, songwriter, author, workshop facilitator, and educator Regie Gibson has performed, taught, and lectured at schools, universities, theaters and various other venues on two continents and in seven countries. Most recently in Havana Cuba. Regie and his work appear in the New Line Cinema film love jones, based largely on events in his life. The poem entitled "Brother to the Night (A Blues for Nina)" appears on the movie soundtrack and is performed by the film's star, Larenz Tate.
Nicole Terez was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Her work has appeared in Can We Have Our Ball Back?, 580 Split, Gathering Ground, Folio: A Literary Journal, and the Indiana Review. She has received fellowships from Cave Canem and the Writer's Room and is a finalist 2006 Hurston/Wright Foundation Fiction Award. She earned an MFA from Brown University and currently lives in Boston.
Quincy Troupe is the author of seventeen books, including eight volumes of poetry, the latest of which is The Architecture of Language, recipient of the 2007 Paterson Award for Sustained Literary Achievement. He received the 2003 Milt Kessler Poetry Award for Transcircularities: New and selected Poems (Coffee House Press, 2002), selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the ten best books of poetry published in 2002. Transcircularities was also a finalist for the 2003 Paterson Poetry Prize
Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is a Nigerian-American poet/singer residing in Boston. Winner of "Performance Poet of the Year" and "Slam Poet of the Year" for the 2003 Cambridge Poetry Awards, Iyeoka initially gained national attention in the National Poetry Slam. For the past 5 years she has been a strong member of the Boston Slam Team 2000-2004.As a member of the 2000 Boston Slam Team, she won fourth place overall in the individual competition.
Described by Cornel West as an artist who "…speaks his truth with a power we desperately need to hear," Bryonn Bain is Brooklyn's own spoken word champion and hip hop poet. Wrongfully imprisoned by the NYPD during his second year at Harvard Law, Bain sued the City of New York, was interviewed by Mike Wallace on CBS' "60 Minutes," and wrote the Village Voice cover story - "Walking While Black: The Bill of Rights for Black America" - which drew the largest response in the history of the nation's most widely-read progressive newspaper
Askia M. Toure' is one of the pioneers of the Black Arts/Black Aesthetics movement and the Africana Studies movement. Toure', a modern renaissance man, is also a political activist, having served with the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's Atlanta Project; and is a co-author of SNCC's "Black Power Position Paper" (featured in 1966, the New York Times), which influenced the movement of the Civil Rights Movement toward the Black Power revolution.
Eric Darby is a nationally-recognized writer and performance poet, currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has competed in two Individual World Poetry Slams and five National Poetry Slams. He has been ranked in the top twenty in two NPS's, and was one of seven National Finalists in 2005. He currently co-hosts the Lizard Lounge Poetry Jam in Boston.
"The trio was a surprise hit of the Boston Music Awards. And it's the glue at the Lizard on Sunday, weaving sinuous riffs that meld uncannily with the rhythm of the poetry."
Steve Morse, The Boston Globe
"The Jeff Robinson Trio is one of the most innovative and revolutionary bands of today that mixes the old with a new kind of flavor." - Abiodun Oyewole, The Last Poets
"Magicians! Wizards! The Jeff Robinson Trio is the best poetry band in the country" Marc Smith - founder of the Poetry Slam
Just coming by to say hello and leave some love on your page. I'm glad to have you as a friend here on myspace and hopes that we can continue and stay in touch.
"The Last Poets 40th Anniversary w/ Autum Ashante', Amiri Baraka, Gil Scott Heron
40 Years in the Making Presented by Sons Rising Entertainment & The Last Poets
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 8 p.m.
"Before RAP knew its name, there was a group of ambitious young men who reflected the harsh spirit of their times and whose work remains prophetic and inspirational today. Born in Harlem on May 19, 1968 , The Last Poets spoke out as few other musical groups had, or have since, about racism, poverty and other African American and societal concerns. Crowned by many historians as the "Godfathers of Rap", The Last Poets' charge has been taken up by many contemporary artists who have felt the prolific group's influence.
On behalf of Sons Rising Entertainment and The Last Poets we would like to personally invite you to participate in this wonderful evening of tribute and honor as we celebrate the 40 th Anniversary of these Legendary Pioneers of Spoken Word and Rap. Four of the surviving members of The Last Poets will be honored in their birthplace of New York City on Saturday, June 14th, 2008 at 8PM at the Schomburg Center in Harlem, NY.
With special guests including the legendary Autum Ashante',Gil Scott Heron and Amiri Baraka this is sure to be a historical event that you do not want to miss!"
For tickets inquiries or more information, call 212-222-0982 or 646-688-5366 or email sonsrisingent@...."
PLEASE PASS THIS ON! (EACH ONE TEACH ONE OR TWO!) CLICK ON THE FLYER BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION. THIS IS PHASE ONE ON HOW WE CAN HELP TO STRENGTHEN & EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY:
Expression Love & Passion A show to discuss various topics in the realm of poetry, music, business and entrepreneurship. There will be various guests coming on the show to give advice and talk about their careers.
LIVE INTERVIEW WITH QUEEN UNIQUE TONIGHT AT 10:30 PM
Finding You Has Enhanced My Musical World Like “WoW”. I Love This. I Love Being Able To Communicate With Stars From All Over The World. You Make Me Happy With Your Wonderful Music. With All The Troubles In The World, This Is Where You Can Truly Be Free. As Long As I Am On This Side Of The Grass, I’ll Be A Friend.
