Saturday, March 16, 2019

John Malveaux: StLPublicRadio.org: Haki Madhubuti & Nicole Mitchell...Collaboration

Poet Haki R. Madhubuti and musician Nicole Mitchell collaborated on a collection of poems set to music.

(New Music Circle)


Saint Louis Public Radio

Mar 15, 2019

Jazz flautist Nicole Mitchell was taking a break from college when she started volunteering at Third World Press, a Chicago bookstore and publishing house. That move sparked a lifelong mentorship with the press’s founder, poet and activist Haki R. Madhubuti.
Twenty years later, the two collaborated on a collection of his poems set to music. They’ve performed the material only a few times, and never outside Chicago. That changes Saturday, when they play a New Music Circle concert at St. Louis University.

“It’s a collaboration I think that does work; an intergenerational collaboration that works,” said Madhubuti, 77. “And I’ve always believed that if indeed this country is going to experience greatness, it will come from the new generation.”

In the time since Mitchell and Madhubuti met, she has became an internationally renowned bandleader and composer. He has expanded his legacy as a luminary of the Black Arts Movement and an institution-builder. 

No comments: