Mahogany @ the Museum V
A few weeks ago I attended my first poetry event that took place in Midtown Detroit at the Charles H. Wright Museum. The event was brought about by Joel Fluent Greene, who wanted to keep the feel of the Mahogany Cafe where many poets and performers showcased their talents.
I found out about this event through a Phillly that I've been following for years. She is part of Idle Warship with Talib Kweli, she goes by the name Res. From the her twitter account, I discover she was coming to Detroit to perform.
As the shoe started a little late, Joel Fluent Greene (Fluent) did a great job a host as well as perform some of his poetry from the book that he was selling. Along with his poetry, he did few freestyle raps with some of the other performers that was there as well.
The first to perform was saxophoist Mike Monford. Instead of having his sons perform, he performed with students from a Detroit school of Performing Arts. The students ranged from 10th to 12th grade. The instruments they played were the saxophone, drums. keyboard, and guitar. They all did a wonder job and played well in front of the crowd.
Next up was Thomas Williams, who was very soulful and deliverant in the words he spoke to uplift those around him. He had a very soulful voice to to match as well. Thomas said he was nervous, but you can never tell that he was.
Something that was different for me was when African percussionist Sowande A. Keita. What he did was a little different he involved the audience to pronounce certain Afican words that went along with names of the drums he was playing. He was telling everyone that the drums worked in conjuction with each other.
Fresh of the Steve Harvey show, we had Dr. Eddie M. Conner Jr. He was telling us his life story of how he over came adversity of being diagnosed with a deadly disease before the age of 20. Along with his life story, he spoke with audience about overcoming life problems and how to accept love amongst other things. Before he finished he gave a quick poem from his new book that is for that ladies to help them to mend a broken heart.
Next to the stage was LaShaun Phoenix Moore. She blessed us wih the way she aritistly delivers the poems she writes as so much emotion is delivered from the words she speaks. Also, one of her poems was dedicated to her and Fluent's close friend and poet, as well, who recently had passed some time before the event. In the poem you can how much she will be missed by those in the poetry community.
My mistake on the order. The act before Phoenix was singer/guitarist Kenny Watson. From the way he performed you can easily tell he was a soulful brother. A lot of his songs were for the ladies but they were songs that the brothers can sing to their ladies to tell them how much they love their ladies. An impromptu act was with Sowande made such a masterpiece. Being able to do something together without any rehersal takes true talent.
Last but not least is the beautiful songstress Res, who was the show closer. She performed some of her greatest hits that her fans will recongize. Songs such as Ice King had the crowd moving and singing along with her word for word. After giving a great show, she stayed longer to meet with fans, sign autographs, take pictures, and sale merch for those looking to buy something. For that reason, I became a bigger fan of Res. Also, Dr. Eddie Conner was selling his new book for people there, as well as Fluent whose book was filled with poems that he wrote and had published.