subject: Spoken Word IIcon e.g. bailey Interviewed By Dwight Hobbes [print this page] Any plans to do a follow-up CD to American Afrikan? What's next?
I am currently developing the touring version of American Afrikan, working with Sha, Truthmaze, Kahlil Brewington, along with Chris Cox and Bryan Berry, both of Junkyard Empire and twentrythirteen. It is great to work with a group of musicians again on a consistent basis, who also really listen and are so free and open to where you can go with improvisation and experimentation. We go back and forth between calling the group Madiba and god's pager. But whatever it's called, it's a unique sound and energy we're striving for. I can't really think of anything like it that's happening with spoken word right now. The process and freedom it fosters reminds me of the kind of performances that Truthmaze and I would do while on tour. It also harkens back to the work I was doing with Arkology, working from a jazz atheistic foundation where we each had the freedom to shape and guide the music but always in response to what others were creating. Even when a piece is structured, it could take a left turn at any moment and we would all go with it. It's my favorite way to perform spoken word with music, the ever changing constant. I'm also developing the next spoken word album. I have a concept and a title but can't reveal it yet. Along with that, I'm working on a few one-off tracks, collaborations and remixes. One is with a producer from the UK, that is dark and apocalyptic, and will feature Molina Soleil and Guante. But you know I can't stay still, so in addition I'm producing some radio documentaries, plus a few odds and ends music and audio projects that will probably not be official releases but available online. Finally, I'm developing a stage version of Amiri Baraka's epic poem cycle "Wise Whys Ys" that mixes spoken word with jazz, movement and film. In the meantime, we will continue to develop American Afrikan, take it to colleges, get it out there as much as possible. But we also have some other long-form spoken word with music pieces that we're planning on developing, some that involve other artists' work. We'll see. As always, it will be an adventure.
Spoken Word IIcon e.g. bailey Interviewed By Dwight Hobbes
