Yup. That’s the joint. That’s the jam.
This poetry jam; a live collaborative flowing experience of poetry-storytelling through live musical stylings and scoring of rap, r&b, soul and jazz to bring an improvised cinematic podcast.
Overlapping community of folks blending together to listen, explore, respond and enjoy the jam session of word, sound and power.
Hosted and led by poet David Delisca, partnering organically with a band of talented instrumentalists and vocalists intersecting with a feature lineup of poets in addition to an open mic, open jam for folks that want to poetically blend their lyrical literature with the crew’s improvisational musical scoring.
This is Session #7 - Theme: Onyx Is a Spectrum.
Our featured guests are national poetry champs Joshua “Scribe” Watkis, Desiree McKenzie and Poetry Jam all star, Sarah G.
Within the kaleidoscope
Refractions of infinity
We don’t end
We just begin again
And again
This live EP of intros, interludes and outros is happening at Toronto's top music venue, The Drake Underground on Tuesday, February 20th. Doors at 7:30. Show starts at 8pm.
A gathering. A showcase. A jam.
Where we blend edges and radius
Into the spaces in between,
Relating through rhyme, reason and rhythm
And releasing into the magnitude of the moment.
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Guest Band:
Cameron Tinklenberg - Keyboard
Rudy Ray - Trumpet
Anthony Daniel - Congas, Percussion
Aubrey McGhee - Saxophone
Jonathan Aristide - Bass
Guest Vocalists:
Janïsa
Chantal Rose
Martin Gomes
MC:
Elle De Lyon
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Admission
$PWYC Tickets Available Til Feb 16th
$20 - Door
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Featured Poets
Desiree Mckenzie
Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, poet, arts educator, and national poetry slam champion. Her poetry and voice have been featured in works for CBC’s Poetic License series, When Sisters Speak, Clearco Financial, Button Poetry, Kids Help Phone and Home Depot. She facilitates community poetry programming for organizations like VIBE Arts, Unity Charity, Poetry in Voice, and Shakespeare in Action. Her debut spoken word EP, Wet Hair, is now available on streaming platforms. In December 2022, she opened for Rupi Kaur on her world tour stop at Massey Hall. She hopes her poetry can tap into the little things that make us, us and why we are the way we are.
Joshua “Scribe” Watkis
A lifetime immersed in the performing arts has made Joshua “Scribe” Watkis entirely devoted to the gift of storytelling. Through Spoken Word Poetry and Hip-Hop, he has taken thousands into his world to experience it as he does. The Scarborough born poet has performed on stages across Canada for a decade, appeared on CBC’s Poetic Licence and opened for the legendary Hip-Hop band ‘The Roots’. As a competitor he attended the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in 2014, 2015 and 2017, never missing a finals stage, winning the national championship in 2019. Scribe has authored two chapbooks, Tethered and Black Blossom/Harsh North, and was featured on the first ever Spoken Word Audiobook on Audible: Power In Poetry; Moods That Move.
Scribe, owner of Word is Bond, is an Arts Educator and event organizer; as well as a member of the Up From The Roots collective and the Rapper/Producer duo S.O.A.P (Scribe & Onglish Aren’t Perfect). His goal is not only to bring his audiences through his story, but to gift them with the courage to do what he calls the “bravest act on Earth.”. To share their own stories, in their words, out loud.
Sarah Grant
A storyteller through poetry, Sarah is a Toronto poetess and published writer, who uses spoken word as a tool to mirror the process of healing. The pieces she creates are written from her honest truth, where she aspires to challenge the mindset of scarcity, and convince others that there is power in vulnerability. With a spirit of humility, Sarah invites her audience to take off their armor, and allow their being permission to feel and engage with her, as she shares authentic,raw, and powerful words.
