First and foremost the atmosphere was completely welcoming. Though there was only a few number in the audience the poets and musician showed no concern as long as they were able to do what they loved and their passion really showed during the Q&A section at the end. I do not know if the other readings had music in accompaniment with poetry but during this specific reading at the CUNY Graduate Center the readings were read with musical accompaniment. The poets used music to enhance the mood/message of their poem though the husband of married couple couldn’t stand still while playing the saxophone and at time made it difficult to hear the poems. Overall the married couple’s performance was spectacular. Not a sign of fear and execution was precise, although I personally didn’t understand the poems.
The partnership between the professor and former student I can only sum up as black literature. The poems seemed to none stop repetition and sounds like a scratched record but that is black literature. At first it sounded like a word salad, a composition of words with no meaning. the poems really outline Baraka’s incorporation of musical elementsas in Baraka’s writing. Though some parts may sound like stuttering it may actually be a jazz technique we do not know, this cannot be approached with bias. Many information spoken about Baraka I had already learned through research such as his departure from the beats and incorporation of music in poetry. One quote that stood out during the reading was I believe “You only become a poet when you stop writing poetry.”
