Graham Reid | | 1 min read
As with the great Native American poet/musician Joy Harjo, the award-winning aja monet (adopting the ee cummings' style lower case) from Brooklyn, New York isn't well known in this country.
And again as with Harjo, that's a shame.
Both channel cultural urgency in poems which can be hard-hitting but are finely crafted.
monet is in the tradition of The Last Poets, Wanda Coleman and others who bring a jazz-blues quality to their work and on this album the flute, piano, trumpet and percussion – as well as backing vocalists – provide the kinds of sound beds which get this over the line into the world of music as much as it exists in the poetry zone.
Which is why we've sidestepped our "music" and "cultural" pages to place this in Something Elsewhere.
monet's themes are love, joy and the Black experience: pieces like the beautiful unhurt are spiritual soul-jazz, there is sensuality here too and monet doesn't allow stridency and rage to take precedence over a quieter persuasion.
monet thinks like a musician in that she creates contained and complete world with her words which don't offer snapshot one-liners or socio-political zingers but rather evoke a mood and meaning in their wholeness.
You could as easily come here for the music – the suggestions of cool Miles Davis on weathering – as for her words.
But either way, do come.
aja monet is someone with something to say.
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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here.
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