Tune into KZYX&Z’s Be More Now program at 7pm on Thursday, July 18 when host Blake More will accomplished performance poet and town crier Raymond Nat Turner, founder of the NYC Jazz poetry ensemble Upsurge Jazz. With imaginative compositions, innovative arrangements and in-your-face consciousness, Raymond’s group UpSurge presents one of the most original group sounds on the music scene today. Their sound is a compelling mix of jazz, poetry and politics, and the upcoming hour long show promises a lively conversation covering all three.
Find out more about Raymond and read his work at the Black Agenda Report.
Here's a sample of a poem you will hear Raymond performing live:
Whoppers of Boss Tweet…
A thief
a thug
Clown in a rug
A tweet
deceit
A lie
a cheat—
Embellish, embroider:
a lying disorder…
A myth
a fable
a bit unstable
Flimflam, claptrap
bunkum—bull crap!
An empty wagon
a puffed up dragon…
A whopper
a fib
You peeped
from your crib!
A sham
a fake
a major ‘mistake—’
Pathological lying
false-flag flying…
A grope
a trope
Bad jokes
breaststrokes
A grope of the crotch—
another ‘man notch’
where they debauch
over water and scotch…
A trumped up story—
cock-and-bull glory
A foot in the mouth
for strategy south
Pie in the sky—
a barefaced lie
A pig in disguise
fooling some eyes…
Playing fast and loose
with Jim Jones Juice
A masquerade—
a Nazi parade
A fake ‘great nation’
same plantation
A bug in the hall
a fly on the wall
A great big whale
an ongoing tale
A parade in July
another big lie
A wink of an eye—
enough outcry?
A thief
a thug
Clown in a rug
A tweet
deceit
A lie
a cheat—
Time for feet
in the street
Sustaining…
…street heat!!
Poet’s note: Inspired by the great Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Waters of March” |
© 2017. Raymond Nat Turner, The Town Crier. All Rights Reserved.