"Charles Coe's Cricket Symphony": a reading by poet Charles Coe, acc. by Ken Field's quartet
When:
Tuesday, Nov 12, 2024 7:30p -
9:30p
Tuesday, Nov 12, 2024 7:30p -
9:30p
Where:
Center for the Arts at the Armory
191 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143
Admission:
$25
Hosted by:
Categories:
Lectures & Conferences, Music, Nightlife, Shows
Event website:
https://artsatthearmory.org/events/pop-presents-charles-coes-cricket-symphony/
“Charles Coe’s Cricket Symphony” is a new live performance, featuring a collection of poems & music based on the poetry of award-winning African American writer & musician Charles Coe, with music including original compositions by Ken Field. Coe will read selected works, with musical preludes, accompaniments, and interludes performed by an ensemble of prominent Massachusetts-based musicians led by Field (on sax and flute), joined by Tad Price (guitar), Blake Newman (bass), and Phil Neighbors (drums).
Doors open at 7:00 pm. Advance tickets are $20, $25 at door.
With a wide ranging song list inspired by the text of the poems, the music will traverse jazz, gospel, pop, Americana, funk, and improvisation, strung together in a seamless sequence outlining in words and tones the breadth of the American musical experience.
Performances of the original “Symphony of Crickets” over the past two summers on Cape Cod received enthusiastic critical & public response: This project has only been presented, up until now, on outer Cape Cod, and many have requested a Boston-area performance. Coe is a local treasure, and well known in the literary world and beyond. After two successful seasons on Cape Cod, the current “Charles Coe’s Cricket Symphony” will feature all new poetry and music.
“Armed with these sturdy, compassionate, and accessible poems, Charles Coe delivers his forthright lessons in empathy and warmth with ethical fidelity. His mnemonic inner-city parables are not to be missed. See him in person (he’s a powerful reader) if you can.” (Dennis Daley, recent review of Charles Coe’s New And Selected Works, in the Wilderness House Literary Review)
Charles Coe is a poet, prose writer, teacher of writing and a musician (vocals and didgeridoo). He recently released his Charles Coe: New and Selected Works of poems (Leapfrog Press, 2024) charlescoe.org
Ken Field is a composer, saxophonist, and flautist. He recently released his latest solo album The Canopy (Neuma Records, 2024), kenfield.org
