Guest Artist Poetry and Percussion Workshops
We were honoured to have guest artists charles c. smith (poet) and Walter Maclean (percussionist) visit Axis Music!
Poet charles c. smith facilitated three workshops at Axis Music in January. charles writes and performs in the tradition of the West African griot. The griot has been recognized as a story-teller, praise singer, poet and/or musician who maintains an oral tradition of stories, poems, songs, and/or dances.
During his workshops, charles explored the interplay between the literary and musical arts with learners, and the workshops culminated with each participant writing and performing a poem at a reading held during the third workshop.
German/Ghanaian percussionist Walter Maclean joined charles during the third workshop to demonstrate the rhythmic features of poetic structure and words, and to perform with participants during the reading.
Sound engineer Nathan Chandler recorded the poetry performances during the reading.
Here is a performance from the Poetry Reading: