Sunday, February 3, 2008

Screening of films on the Beat Generation (Pull My Daisy by Robert Frank, short films by Burroughs / Gysin / Balch, and Nine Poems in Basilicata featuring John Giorno).

Same event as February 2.

In French. Justin Evans, Michel Meunier, Pascal Langlais, Léon Lo and Éric Gingras bring their multiple talents and a wealth of influences to Ensemble Kesdjan. Free jazz to noise, soul to eastern music, folk to hip-hop, and no waiting. Rapper Khyro is a key member of the group. On stage he lives the emotion as it happens, and he doesn’t hold back when a freestyle explosion overtakes him.

In English. John Giorno meets a few pillars of Canadian spoken word. We’re battening down the hatches for poet/performer Sheri-D Wilson (Calgary); singer/musician Mark Berube (a little Vancouver, now a lot more Montreal); talespinner Ivan Coyote (some Vancouver, often on tour, heart in her native Yukon); poet Erin Mouré (born Calgary, settled Montreal); storyteller/performer Catherine Kidd (originally Vancouver, now Montreal); performer/throat singer Taqralik Partridge (born Nunavik, living in Montreal); and the fresh young voice of Valerie Khayat (Italian mother, Lebanese father), a poet/singer from next-generation-Montreal, bilingual and multi-everything. It promises to be a unique and eclectic evening. Not unlike this country.

Our host will be Fortner Anderson, first winner of “The Voice Electric Award” presented by Les Filles électriques and Wired on Words. FVA guest of honour John Giorno will perform with his usual high spirits.

This “coast-to-coast-to-coast” evening will be facilitated by our high-flying crew of supersonic musicians Bernard Falaise, Diane Labrosse and Malcolm Goldstein.

The show will be recorded by CBC Radio One, produced by Katherine Gombay.

Open mic, bilingual.