Master Conductor Lawrence D. 'Butch' Morris' CHORUS OF POETS
SATURDAY - AUGUST 12 - 6:00 pm - one show
Tribes Gallery
[email protected]
285 East 3rd Street #2
NY, NY 10009
212-674-3778
$5 Donation
THE POETS: Nora McCarthy, Alexander Biluish, Chantal Ughi, Justin Carter, Yasha Bilan, Angelo Verga, Golda Solomon, Mark Gering, Chavisa Woods, Merry Fortune
SCRIPT: Excerpts from “Freedom Club" by Howard Monath “Any universe simple enough to be understood, is too simple to produce a mind capable of understanding it."
LAWRENCE D. 'BUTCH' MORRIS CONDUCTS
http://www.conduction.us
“A CHORUS OF POETS"
“Nothing compares to (or prepares one for) the magnitude of Morris' personal vision of conduction." - “Morris brings context to improvisation". - Metroactive Music
A Chorus of Poets, now in its 13th year, represents a neglected yet vital tradition in the spoken word community . 18 vocalists conjure the spiritual and the psychic by cajoling the most marvelous void . The effect is stunning and overwhelming .
“A Chorus of Poets", is a powerful experience that represents how technology is shaping the culture. It is on the cutting edge of jazz and spoken word, with use of the human voice as instrument, that samples how our society is changing. Many of today's art with mobile technologies was anticipated by Butch Morris, as well as Steve Cannon's play titled “What Now, Now What". It is the sound of each poet's poem . The effect is stunning and overwhelming.
The density of the rhythm represents the chaos of mass information harmonized; the conductor gives voice to the city through the spoken word of poets. . The sound of the chorus becomes the city's conciseness. Each poet's story has meaning within the context of the city's consciousness and therefore changes from the individualistic perspective. Unique to the moment of occurrence, never again to be reproduced and instantly lost to the moments passed of spent last breath of poets.
The emphasis is not on singing voice. Definitely more than acting and beyond performance. The chorus touches upon the soul of the city and possesses its inhabitance with its awareness of the rawness of being a real person in New York with real perspective; with a soul and knowledge of one's imperfect spirit lost in the monstrosity of man made hugeness . It is the liturgy of spoken word with the despair of modernity in the naked voice.
Mr. Morris takes the poets to a salvation of the city in its reality. A merciless city upon which the poets bargain with the essence of very real emotion for some moments of soulful existence which is not always pleasant; but always real and immediate. The perspective of the individual never seems far away; but in the context of this chorus; seems forever not the same; changed by awareness that the city has a consciousness in harmony ."What Morris accomplishes is a work so vast in its tonal spaces and colors, recordings can barely contain it. In Morris' egoless conduction, new tone poems and symphonies are being structurally erected as multilingual towers of expression and collective architecture where tonality is the bendable surface from which the foundation emerges. In conduction -- and perhaps only there -- is it possible to achieve the feat of a musical community dissolving its separate identities in order to communicate in freedom as an individual unit of creative expression". -- (ALL MUSIC GUIDE)
January 12, 2005
Black Febuary and Butch Morris's Chorus of Poets
To me, “A Chorus of Poets", is a powerful experience that represents how technology is shaping the culture. It is on the cutting edge of jazz and spoken word, with use of the human voice as an instrument, that samples how our society is changing. Many of today's art with mobile technologies was anticipated by Butch Morris, as well as Steve Cannon's play titled “Dis Dat". Below is the review of Skyscraper I did after seeing the performance back in November, 2002 .
This is about a chorus of poets. The piece in question represents a collective of spoken word artists collaborating together with conductor, Butch Morris. It is the sound of each poets' poem that is conducted to form a musical composition out of the various voices spoken. The poets are arranged in two semi-circles rows with conductor Butch Morris in the middle; the computer and sound effect person, Mr. Kari, is on stage left . Mr. Morris uses hand signals to direct poets as musical instruments. It begins with poets speaking and finding harmony with each other. The collective sound evolves as some voices increase in amplitude and as other voices fade quite. Then one voice dominates and sets tempo and rhythm. The rhythm is reinforced with synchronized repetition that the poets spontaneously decide upon in the passion of going forward. Then harmony followed by voices in tandem succession. This pattern is mixed and changed. The effect, stunning and overwhelming. The density of the rhythm represents the chaos of mass information harmonized; the conductor gives voice to the city through the spoken word of poets. . The sound of the chorus becomes the city's conciseness. Each poets story has meaning within the context of the city's consciousness and therefore changes from the individualistic perspective. Unique to the moment of occurrence, never again to be reproduced and instantly lost to the moments passed of spent last breath of poets. The emphasis is not on singing voice. Definitely more than acting and beyond performance. The chorus touches upon the soul of the city and possesses its inhabitance with its awareness of the rawness of being a real person in New York with real perspective; with a soul and knowledge of ones imperfect spirit lost in the monstrosity of man made hugeness. It is the liturgy of spoken word with the despair of modernity in the naked voice. Mr. Morris takes the poets to a salvation of the city in its reality. A merciless city upon which the poets bargain with the essence of very real emotion for some moments of soulful existence which is not always pleasant; but always real and immediate. The perspective of the individual never seems far away; but in the context of this chorus; seems forever not the same; changed by awareness that the city has a consciousness in harmony.
In contrast, the work of Butch Morris represents something very vital to the spoken word community, and represents a neglected tradition that is now evolving within the city and information technology infrastructure: that within the city are thinking people who see and experience beyond the commercialism of contrived art. The tradition of using our experience as a form as contextualized language touches upon the evolving Sousveillance art movement. For it is the very human aspects of how “A Chorus of Poets" comes into being that represents how persons will adapt artistically to a world in which anything we do as part of our daily existence, can and will be dataminded.
FOLLOWING THE PERFORMANCE OF A CHORUS OF POETS - AN ENTIRE EVENING OF OUTSTANDING MUSICIANS AND POETS - PLEASE SUPPORT THIS LIVE MUSIC/POETRY EVENT IN HONOR OF OUR BELOVED 'BIRD'.
7:00 p.m. Readings by individual poets
8:00 p.m. Dance performance by Phoebe Morris
8:30 p.m. Musical performance by Billy Bang Trio
$5 contribution
AND, CONTINUING ON THE WEEK AT TRIBES
Thursday August 24th at 6:00PM - John Cage film by Mitch Corber Donations welcome
Sunday August 27th at 6:00PM (till 9PM) - Book release party for Ishmael Reed and Victor Hernandez Cruz
6:30 Reading by the poets
$5 contribution
Tuesday August 29th at 6:00PM (till 9PM) - All day Block Party in honor of Charlie Parker's birthday
6:00 p.m. Hungry March Band
Readings by Individual poets throughout the evening
Donations welcome
Burt Sterns' “Jazz on a Summer's Day" and movies showcasing the life of Hilton Ruiz, and the 'Jazzmobile' will be available for viewing upon request throughout the month.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
