UpSurge! Jazz
poets Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg bend metaphors, integrating
spoken-word, jazz, history, and politics that hold true to the rhythms at Freight
and Salvage Coffee House.
Promoting public
awareness and understanding of music rooted in and expressive of variety of
ethnic and social cultures, the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, is a Green
State-of-the-Art Folk Music Venue.
The sound system
is superb, and the seating is spacious and comfortable in an environment where
you can easily see the performers on stage with ease.
Serving coffee,
teas, sodas, desserts, night snacks, beer and wine, this nonprofit community
arts organization is a world famous venue for traditional music.
Be it jazz, blues,
bluegrass, folk, gospel or world beat, the venue is located at 2020 Addison
Street in downtown Berkeley, directly across the street from the Berkeley
Repertory Theater, and walking distance from the Berkeley Bart Station and AC
Transit.
The first in the
line-up on their October calendar, UpSurge! JazzPoetry Ensemble featured
Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg.
Taking center
stage, Saturday, October 1, 2011, the Oakland based Jazz Ensemble paid homage
to jazz vocalist Eddie Jefferson, and actor/playwright/civil rights activist
Oscar Brown, Jr. Both were instrumental in inspiring the group’s unique
cutting-edge mix of music and poetry.
Joined by Richard
Howell on saxophones, Benny Watson on Piano, Rob Rhodes on drums, and bassist
Ollen Erich Hunt, and guest vocalist Ernest East, the experience and energy
brought together onstage crossed boundaries and brings down barriers.
The multiethnic
group’s founder, Turner, African American, originally from South Central/Watts
Los Angeles, and co-leader, Lowenberg, a New York Jewish visual artist, created
a stunning movement of unity.
“They are
spectacular. Not only were they just saying words, but I could feel the emotion
from the music,” said Eileen Joyce, a patron of the arts.
“We go way back,”
said Sally Wolfer, a retired art teacher from Berkeley High School.
Turner, founded
the group in 1990.
Lowenberg started
performing with him as a guest poet in 1993 and joined forces with UpSerge in
1996 as co-leader.
Influenced by
Bunchie Carter, a Los Angeles Black Panther Party Member, poet, and mentor,
Turner says, “the force and impact he had on me with his poetry was great.”
Poet and
performer, Ron Karenga, was another influence as Turner’s teacher at UCLA.
As a child Turner
remembers his Mother reading lots of nursery rhymes and singing lullabies to
him. His life was inundated with poetry and books.
“There always were
jazz musicians around,” says Turner.
Photo Compliments of UpSerge!
Lowenberg, raised
in Queens relocated to the bay area from East Village in Manhattan, comes from
a family where the women were involved in politics. Her mother was involved in
fair housing issues as well as in the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAAC) and had met Eleanor Roosevelt. Lowenberg’s aunt was an
all out communist.
From New York,
Boston, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago, and Ghana, West Africa, the ensemble has
performed together nationally and internationally, collaborating across
disciplines of jazz and poetry, and history and politics.
“Raymond and Zigi
have such respect for the words and tradition. It’s really a pleasure working
with them,” said Benny Watson, piano player with UpSurge!
The performance
started with Turner doing a call to the ancestors with Lowenberg’s smooth
melodic voice rhythmically echoing, backed by drums hitting to the beat,
followed by piano and bass. The sweet sounds of the saxophone had a hypnotic
effect on the audience.
“I particularly,
liked the sax player,” says Joyce.
UpSurge! presented
a unique fusion of eclectic jazz and fierce poetry. Their innovative poetics
were juxtaposed with the politics of today as they value the art form as a
hammer for change.
For more
information on UpSurge! and future performances visit their website at:
For
more information on Freight & Salvage Coffee House, visit their website at:
http://www.thefreight.org/
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