(l to r: VONA writers Buki Papillon and Camille Acker)

Is there anything else out there like the AWP writers’ conference? Where else can you hear — under one roof — readings by Tracy K. Smith, Natasha Tretheway, Major Jackson, Mat Johnson, Kevin Young, Carleen Brice, Cornelius Eady and Sundays @ The Sackett alum Samantha Thornhilll?

But it is a conference, which has a certain formality. Luckily, one of the more enervating events of the conference took place off-site, blocks away from Boston’s massive and sterile convention center and thankfully a day after winter storm Saturn.

For two hours last Saturday night, VONA alums shared the spotlight with authors from Las Dos Brujas Writing Community as they read powerful fiction, poetry and memoir to a packed and adoring crowd at the cooperative workspace Make Shift.

What’s VONA/Voices you ask? It is the only multi-genre workshop for writers of color in the nation.

Hosted by co-founder Elmaz Abinader, the night’s readings were meant to promote VONA’s forthcoming anthology, Dismantle, but the event was really about celebrating a tight-knit community of writers and those who love them. After each reading, folks whooped and yelled and cheered, sometimes calling out “VONA! VONA!” amidst effusive applause. Think writers as rock stars.

Indeed, the writers’ work was across the board stellar, from Buki Papillon’s searing tale of a young Nigerian woman newly arrived in America naively bumping up against western mores and bracing for the worse; to Camille Acker’s pitch-perfect story taking us into the mind of a DC teen intimidating her way into self-worth; to Dionne Irving Bremyer’s cautionary tale warning a black Barbie of her woeful fate; to the riveting verse of Gail Dottin (above) who captured the tyrannical voice of self doubt living inside every writer’s head.

Throughout the night, writers noted that VONA workshops had been both validating and life-changing. If you’d like a validating, life-changing experience, VONA’s next workshops are June 23-29 @ University of California at Berkeley. Summer faculty include Junot Diaz (fiction), Staceyann Chin (memoir), Mat Johnson (graphic novel) and Ruth Forman (poetry). Deadline for applications is April 8.

Additional links:

• VONA official 

• Buki Papillon Official

• Gail Dottin Official

(photo credit: Steven Rosen Photography)

Folks big and small came out to help writer Jacqueline Woodson (above) celebrate the musical inspired by her book Show Way!

Congrats to the acclaimed children’s & young-adult author for the musical, which is about seven generations of women who pass quilts or “show ways” from daughter to daughter. Thanks to the talented multi-culti cast, the imaginative production was alive with laughter as well as teachable moments. Following the premiere, the McGinn/Cazale Theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side was packed with little ones lining up to get autographs from the actors, the writer and the book’s illustrator Hudson Talbot.

Those of you with kids from 4 to 12 who’ve been clamoring for some age-appropriate theater with African-American stories will want to check it out.

Kudos to the Vital Theatre Group and all involved for bringing culturally diverse children’s theater to New York!

Show Way runs every Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., plus school holidays thru March 3rd. Tickets, $25 / $30.

Additional links:

• Jacqueline Woodson official
• Vital Theatre

Previous issues

Again, it’s worth shouting out Hycide Magazine founder Akintola Hanif, editors Fayemi Shakur and Carrie Stetler, and contributing editor Michael Gonzales on the success of the first year of the magazine. MoCADA was packed on Friday as a diverse crowd came out to celebrate the magazine at its first year of highlighting photography at the intersection of subculture, street life and social justice. The magazine provides a substantive and visually stunning look at aspects of black life that don’t always get seen and, quite frankly, are often marginalized.

Again, congrats to all involved.  We’re looking forward to seeing more from this publication.

Additional links:

• Hycide Magazine
• Follow @hycidemag on Twitter

When all was said and done, 30,000 people packed Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn for Afropunk this year.  That many people meant lines.  It took me a while to check-in, but that’s what you get.

Unfortunately, I missed The Memorials.  But I did get to see Straight Line Stitch, and I will be getting to know their music.  Lead singer Alexis Brown is a powerful performer.  Small thing: from a photography standpoint, she likes to do this thing where she lets her hair cover her face, which doesn’t make for great photos.

It’s always a pleasure to watch Reggie Watts.  He’s funny and always engaging, especially when things don’t go well.  He deftly turned some technical mishaps into a production discussion that kept the performance moving along until he was able to work around the problem.

I was surprised that Toro Y Moi was so much more “dance-y” live than on his album.  He had the crowd grooving, especially a gaggle of young girls in the front row.

All the things you’ve heard about Janelle Monae are true:  She goes hard and 100% every time and her performance on Sunday was no different.  And she brought a bigger ensemble with backup singers and a horn section that gave her songs more muscle, even as they stayed supple and bouncey.  Folks where definitely there to see her and we were packed in tight.  She repayed that enthusiasm with a great performance and some crowdsurfing.

Finally got to see TV On The Radio!  The thing that really impressed me about them was how big their sound is.  It’s melodic and muscular at the same time.  Clearly, they’ve been performing in stadiums.  Also, Jaleel Bunton has moved from drums to bass and keys, a move, someone remarked to me, made for a bit more vamping on the band’s part.  They’ve grown into real rockstars (and I mean that in the best way) as performers.  My one disappointment: They didn’t do my joint “DLZ”. Oh, well!

At the end of the day, Afropunk is now, credibly, a mainstream festival.  Which means that they’re polishing the rough edges musically.  Even though I saw a lot of black punk and metal fans in the audience, it seemed like very few of the bands actually pulled from those ranks musically.  I say this having NOT seen Radkey, Inky Jack or The Skins.  Is it the case that what we’re seeing are the mainstreaming of once “alternative” black music and a festival that has progressed similarly? Maybe.  And it’s smart for a festival to continue to grow with its audience.  After all, those same kids who were part of the scene portrayed in Spooner’s film in 2004 are now eight years older.  And, honestly, might have been radical or alternative back then–a punk, electro or metal sound–they’re all just elements of the music that this grown up iPod generation has become used to.

In the meantime, here are some photos. What do you guys think about the festival and where “Afropunk” as a label, a lifestyle, is and where it’s heading? Drop a note in the comments.

Additional link:

• Photos: Afropunk Festival 2012–Day 1

@afropunk

Brooklyn–and I’m sure other locales–were in the house yesterday as the 2012 Afropunk Festival kicked off.  Great lineup of skating, food, and music.

It was nice to see Alice Smith after her seemingly long hiatus.  Hopefully there will be a new album soon: What a voice! Finally got to see Cerebral Ballzy, after the buzz earlier from “Insufficient Fare,” but I wonder to what extent it’s affectation.  Looking forward to spending more time with the music of Joe Jordan’s eXperiment, a rock trio wherein the drummer is the lead guitarist’s mom.  And a shoutout to The Oxymorrons, the Queens duo of brothers K.I. and D.  Great flow, songs and incredible energy.  They’re working with Netic from Game Rebellion, so I can see why they’re vibing.

It’s been about 10 years since I last saw Erykah Badu. Homegirl started her set 40 minutes late.  I didn’t stay for the full set because the photo pit was bananas and they kicked all of us out by the 3rd song.  What we heard to that point was remixes and re-interpretations of her earlier hits.  Folks really love her.  I’ll leave it at that for now.

More to come today.

@funkrockster

It’s worth repeating: It’s always good to see Nona Hendryx. Just ’cause.  I mean, she’s had swag before it was even called swag.

Tuesday, she performed a very short set at the opening of an art exhibit some of her paintings are part of called Love Or Fear at CATM Chelsea Gallery.  What was cool was that we finally got to see her Audio Tutu: It’s this plexiglass skirt with an iPod, iPad, speakers and sound processing controls built in.  And with it, she performed two songs– “Skindiver” and “Higher Purpose,” the haunting ballad that’s on the soundtrack to Showtime’s Sleeper Cell.

The show Love Or Fear is a collaboration between Nona, Francesca Galliani, and Gina Raphaela. According to the press release for the exhibit, their goal is to “deconstruct and reassemble “the role of women in present day society.”

Not sure how long the show is up, but check out the CATM Chelsea site for more information.

Nona in the Audio Tutu

The iPad control screen on the Audio Tutu

See more photos from the event on the Boldaslove.us Facebook page.

Additional link:

• Nona Hendryx official

@gypsygirlbliss

On her own Imani Uzuri has a formidable voice, one that’s full of the boom and depth of the North Carolina church girl she is.  But something else was on display last Friday night at Joe’s Pub, where Imani held her release party for her latest album, The Gypsy Diaries.  So much of that show was about the magic that happens when she takes her songs and weaves them into a musical, emotional and spiritual tapestry. And did I mention that we all had fun, everyone from the musicians onstage to the standing room-only audience?

See, the thing about Imani and her music is this: As solid as her recording’s are, they are really best experienced live. The albums are meant to be performed.  They only gain power from the spontaneity of the musicians and the palpable give-and-take between Imani and the audience.  The night was full of special moments: Like when  Imani handed the mic and the spotlight over to Dr. Kyra Gaunt for some impromptu vocalese; or when she brought a trio of powerhouse singers onstage: Karma Mayet Johnson, Toshi Reagon and Rozz Nash-Coulon; or when she brought out Fred Cash, who’s one of those musicians who’s probably forgot more about the bass that most cats will ever learn–to add some of his signature low-end to a couple of songs.

In true gypsy fashion, Imani drew her instrumentation from all over the world, eschewing a traditional band setup.  Instead, she employed cello, Japanese shinobue flute, acoustic guitar, world percussions, and sitar and daf. Burnt Sugar’s Greg Tate called the sound “transcendental grindhouse,” but he’s is good for coming up with some out descriptors.

Imani with her full band (l to r): Marika Hughes (cello), Kaoru Watanabe (japanese shinobue flute, western flute), imani uzuri (vocals, tambourine, album Co-Producer), Christian Ver Halen (acoustic guitar, album Co-Producer), Todd Isler (myriad world percussions) and Neel Murgai (sitar and daf), not pictured special guest Fred Cash (electric bass). This is not a Boldaslove.us photo, but one that Imani sent. Shouts to the photographer, whoever you are Nisha Brady.

Karma Mayet Johnson (l) and Toshi Reagon

Christian Ver Halen (l); Imani Uzuri; and Todd Isler

Fred Cash (l) toying with the low end, while Imani sings on

As it was an album release party, The Gypsy Diaries is now available worldwide via iTunes.

Additional links:

• See the full set of event photos on Bold As Love Magazine’s Facebook page
• Hear the track “Dream Child”
  
• Imani Uzuri official
  

@warmedia @jeangreasy @melamachinko

I can definitely say that there was a lot of love in the room last Thursday for Jean Grae.  As you may recall, this show at Drom was her first in NYC in over a year.  She’s such an incredible MC and songwriter that there is a lot of anticipation for her new album, Cake Or Death, when it drops sometime later this summer or in the fall.

Longtime friend and DJ Mr. Len got the crowd warmed up and traded barbs with her to get things started.  And it was great to see her surrounded by some top shelf musicians. I mean, I was sold upon seeing that pianist, arranger and longtime collaborator Kwame Brandt-Pierce and drummer Chris Eddleton were on the bill.  And Gordon Voidwell tipped me to the fact that bassist Ed Goldson plays with him.  Didn’t know Pete Paul Josephs before that night, but I like his guitar work.  And the irrepressible Mela Machinko provided both a great voice and a dash of sass, counterpoints to Jean, whose wit is always razor sharp, but who tends to be slightly more reserved in public.

Also great to note that Jean wasn’t just being an MC who fronted a band, but was a full fledged bandleader, bringing soloists in and out of songs, directing the band to amplify or extend certain musical ideas.  We’re all for artistic evolution, and it was on full display here.  Brava!

Pharoahe Monch joined Jean for a song

Jean Grae with Mela Machinko and Pete Josephs

Check out the Boldaslove.us Facebook page for the full photo set

@afropunk

It’s worth taking a minute to commend Afropunk and Weeksville Heritage Center on Triptych, their new documentary series that profiles all-kinds-of-awesome visual art talent.  The three pieces–focusing on Sanford Biggers, Wangechi Mutu and Barron Claiborne–do a great job of humanizing these artists. What I mean is that the films take you inside their lives, and give you a better sense of them as people.  It situates all of them in a history, with families.  Basically, with context, so you’re not just left looking at these three as these geniuses who showed up out of nowhere.  If you get a chance, please see it.

Post-screening, WBAI host and playwright Esther Armah was an excellent moderator for a discussion with the subjects of the docs, plus director Terence Nance.  Shout outs, too, to director of photography Shawn Peters for his excellent lensing.  After the discussion, there was a nice hang in the Brooklyn Museum’s lobby.  Some pics here:

Fishbone’s Angelo Moore kicks things off with a rendition of “Lift Ev’ry Voice”

Post-screening discussion (l to r): Terence Nance, Sanford Biggers, Wangechi Mutu, Barron Claiborne, Esther Armah

Designer Don Franklin and Triptych director of photography Shawn Peters

MoCADA’s Shante’ Cozier

Guillermo Brown and Gordon Voidwell

Afropunk’s Matthew Morgan and Wangechi Mutu

Additional link:

• More photos on the Boldaslove.us Facebook page
  

Some photos from Friday night’s reception. Both artists’ work will be on display until June 23.

Simone Leigh (center) with friends

Simone Leigh, Untitled, 2012

Simone Leigh, Untitled from series “My works, my dreams, must wait ’til after hell”, 2012

Chitra Ganesh (center) with friends

Some of Chitra Ganesh’s work: Devika’s Kiss, 2012

Ben Bronfman, formerly of The Exit, now part of the music collective Teachers

Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, author of Harlem Is Nowhere

Artist Duron Jackson (left) and friend

Actor/writer Ama Birch

Stylist Jenna’ Wallace of Glow Society

Artist Llanor and dancer Clarence

Artist, writer and educator Una-Kariim Cross

View all photos from this event here.