Round III goes to the ghosts: Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts at Bird & Beckett a great success

Bird & Beckett, at 653 Chenery Street in Glen Park

Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts, Round III, last night at Bird & Beckett Books and Records in Glen Park, was a singing-poet, jazz-poem local spectacular. The approximately 50 people in attendance in the casual, well-lit bookstore, sat, stood and crouched attentively, some spellbound, yet responsive and enlivened. With "Bishop" Norman Williams playing accompaniment saxophone and Phillip T. Nails guest hosting with Bob Booker, Daniel Yaryan, and Bird & Beckett's Eric Whittington, the plethora of artists charged through the two and a half hours of performance – some merrily, others fraught with passion, all as true performers.

(For a full list of those who performed, see here.)

Without summarizing every poem of every performer, suffice it to say that the entire gamut of human emotion was intensely covered in all cadences and rhythms. From Joie Cook’s macabre humor and exuberance, to Jonathan Siegel’s deliciously raunchy yet honest and hopeful look at man’s ennui and the futility and infinity of sex, to Will Dodger’s impassioned anger and Mel Clay’s fear and sickness in a touching portrayal of heroin overdose; Neeli Cherkovski took us through the northern coastal tip of Israel to Haifa and beyond, finding romance and lust all the way, and Camincha, through her bubbling enthusiasm and infectious smile, proceeded to “magical, magical, magical [Havana] Cuba.” Words, beats and rhythms flowed, discoursing on disenchantment, hymning homages, lyricising love. It was lively.

The most striking aspect of the event was how poetry and jazz seemed to blend seamlessly. Maybe I just haven’t spent enough time around spoken word artists, but the way that words flowed into and out of music was captivating. Steve Arntson’s piano-accompanied, rhythmic spoken-word, no-notes performance exemplified exactly that – a performance. The event’s organizers, Daniel Yaryan and Bob Booker, took their turns as well, as did guest host Nails (when he wasn’t busy caringly informing spectator-poets of their approaching open mic times).

The open mic-ers themselves were a talented group: four performers with varying levels, it seemed, in both experience and nervousness, but definite poets. Thank you’s to Jan Steckel, Richard Loranger, Julia Vinograd, and James Cagney for gracing us with their talent.

When Jerry Ferraz completed the evening with a jazzy acoustic guitar rendering (with The Bishop on the sax) of ‘When the Saints come Marching In,’ the crowd was left foot-tappin’ and smilin.’

The event was cozy and never overly-dramatic (though, thankfully, neither was it lacking in at least one black beret). Definitely be on the lookout for Round IV, so you don’t miss the next installment of the poetry-jazz sparring with the beatniks. These people sing their poetry, and really perform their spoken word art. Oh, it's every writer’s favorite kind of preacher.