International Jazz Poetry Month 2024, May 2-23, features 50+ artists, new and returning, making their way to our stage from near and far. Jazz Poetry Month is a tradition that traces back to the very heart of City of Asylum. At its core, it is a celebration of experimentation, collaboration, and connection between art forms and between artist and audience. All performances can be viewed live, in person or online on our streaming platform.
Jazz Poetry Month 2024 Schedule
Thursday, May 2 @ 7 PM
James Brandon Lewis Quartet, Olena Boryshpolets, Amit Chaudhuri, Toi Derricotte, Shara McCallum
Jazz Poetry kicks off with the return of crowd favorite, four-time-returning festival headliner, and critically acclaimed jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, performing with his quartet. Joining James on the Alphabet City stage are outstanding poets Amit Chaudhuri (visiting all the way from India to share his latest collection), Pittsburgh’s own beloved Toi Derricotte, winner of the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature Shara McCallum, and, returning for her second Jazz Poetry performance, City of Asylum writer-in-residence Olena Boryshpolets.
Thursday, May 9 @ 7 PM
Rakiem Walker Quartet, grace (ge) gilbert, Ladan Osman, Anouar Rahmani, & Astrid Roemer
Experience “the ultimate authentic sound from Harlem” with Rakiem Walker as he and his quartet fuse jazz, soul, and hip hop to create their unique sound. Rakiem will collaborate with four poets: finalist for the 2020 Emerging Poet Laureate of Allegheny County grace (ge) gilbert, winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Ladan Osman, author of four novels in Arabic and City of Asylum writer-in-residence Anouar Rahmani, and Astrid Roemer, winner of the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren, the most prestigious prize for Dutch writers. Astrid’s performance is presented in partnership with The Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco.
Monday, May 13 @ 7 PM
Leslie DeShazor Quintet, Fatimah Asghar, Rania Mamoun, Andrés Neuman, & Jeremy Lee Stone
Jazz Poetry 2024 welcomes some of the most incredible talents the Alphabet City stage has ever seen, including Fatimah Asghar, a South-Asian American Muslim writer with National Book Award and Emmy nominations; Deaf poet, storyteller and founder of ASL NYC Jeremy Lee Stone; Sudanese activist and City of Asylum writer-in-residence Rania Mamoun; and celebrated Argentinian poet and novelist Andrés Neuman, traveling all the way from Spain. Setting the tone for this third night of Jazz Poetry is acclaimed violinist Leslie DeShazor, who will make her debut at City of Asylum with an exciting quintet.
Thursday, May 16 @ 7 PM
Milena Casado Quartet, Rae Armantrout, Yahya Ashour, Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko, & Richard Hamilton
City of Asylum’s International Jazz Poetry Month welcomes artists from all over the world, bringing new friends sharing new works to the stage every year. This Jazz Poetry month we are delighted to welcome Milena Casado, an amazing Spanish composer, flugelhorn player, and trumpeter who is no stranger to mixing poetry with her compositions. Milena and her quartet will be sharing newly composed work, joined by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Rae Armantrout, Palestinian poet Yahya Ashour, whose work has been translated and published in eight languages, current fellow at Pitt’s Center for African American Poetry & Poetics program Richard Hamilton, and Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko, multi-disciplinary Ukrainian artist and City of Asylum writer-in-residence
Sunday, May 19 @ 6 PM
Andy Milne Trio, Noah Arhm Choi, Jonathan Moody, Justin Perez, & Monica Sok
Jazz Poetry continues into its final week, welcoming Juno Award–winning pianist Andy Milne all the way from Canada. Andy Milne’s Unison Trio will be sharing his new album, Time Will Tell, which explores the intersection between heritage, identity, and destiny. Performing with Andy are renowned poets Justin Perez (a leading Deaf storyteller sharing work via visual vernacular), Kundiman and Sewanee Writers Conference fellowship awardee Noah Arhm Choi, winner of the Cave Canem/Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize Jonathan Moody, and Monica Sok, a daughter of Cambodian refugees, and recipient of the Discovery Prize from the 92nd Street Y.
Tuesday, May 21 @ 7 PM
Roger Humphries and RH Factor, Sahar Muradi, Xan Forest Phillips, Volodymyr Rafeyenko & Mónica de la Torre
Fans of Thursday Night Jazz rejoice: legendary Pittsburgh drummer Roger Humphries and the RH factor return to City of Asylum to join in the 20 year anniversary of Jazz Poetry. Our Tuesday night poets feature City of Asylum writer-in-residence and prolific Ukrainian writer Volodymyr Rafeyenko in his Jazz Poetry debut, winner of the University of Pittsburgh Press’s Donald Hall Prize for Poetry Sahar Muradi, sharing work from her recently published collection Octobers, recipient of a Lambda Literary Award, Xan Forest Phillips, and Mónica de la Torre, Mexican poet and winner of the 2022 Foundation for Contemporary Arts C.D. Wright Award for Poetry.
Thursday, May 23 @ 7 PM
Alex Harding & Lucian Ban Quintet, Quan Barry, Jorge Olivera Castillo, Quincy Scott Jones, & Rajiv Mohabir
For the final performance of Jazz Poetry 2024, the tradition of international collaboration and cross-cultural exchange is embraced by saxophonist Alex Harding and Transylvanian expat pianist Lucian Ban. The pair will make their return to City of Asylum with their quintet to share their latest project, Blutopia. They are joined by City of Asylum writer-in-residence Jorge Olivera Castillo, Vietnamese American poet and author of the explorative poetry collection Auction, Quan Barry, Cave Canem Fellow Quincy Scott Jones, and British-Guyanese poet Rajiv Mohabir, a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award who will make his long anticipated return to the Alphabet City stage.
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