The soothing, saxophonic melody of pianist Thelonius Monk’s “Round Midnight” and the spoken, heartfelt poetry of world-renowned poet Michael S. Harper reverberated off the walls of the Missouri United Methodist Church on Friday.
About 70 people trickled in and out of the jazz poetry concert, part of a three-day symposium sponsored by the MU Department of English and Cave Canem, a national organization whose mission is to cultivate and celebrate African-American poetry.
Harper, a professor of English at Brown University since 1970, has published 16 books of original poetry and received awards for a number of his works. His books “Dear John, Dear Coltrane,” and “Images of Kin: New and Selected Poems” were nominated for the National Book Award.
The Dennis Winslett Quartet, a combo based in Kansas City, provided Friday night’s music. They opened the evening by playing half an hour of music by saxophonist John Coltrane, a former
acquaintance of Harper.
The combo continued to play as Harper, poets Herman Beavers and Kate Rushin, and Missouri poets Glenn North and Natasha Ria El-Scari took turns reading poetry that corresponded to the music.
Harper read “Dear John, Dear Coltrane,” one of his most famous works, as the last poem of the evening. During a call-and-response portion of the poem, everyone in the audience repeatedly sang the words “love supreme.”
“(Harper is) one of the great American poets…just an extraordinary poet,” said Thadious Davis, a colleague and good friend of Harper.
The symposium was held this week in celebration of Harper’s birthday on Monday. After the concert, coordinators brought a birthday cake into the chapel and the audience sang to an unsuspecting Harper.
Read more: http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/3/19/mu-english-department-hosts-symposium-honor-renown/
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