Poetry Reading | Poetry and Music

Hosted by poet/ Jeff Wright, Dennis Nurkse, and Barry Wallenstein, with Massimo Cavalli, bass; Ken Filiano, bass; Kaori Amada, percussion.

Poet Jeffrey Wright received his MFA after studying with Allen Ginsberg.  A New Romantic poet, he is also a publisher, art and literary critic, eco-activist, impresario, filmmaker, and artist. He is author of 19 books of verse, including Blue Lyre and Party Everywhere. His latest work, a book of sonnets and artwork called Doppelgangster, Self Portraits in a Funhouse Mirror is from MadHat Press. Other work appears in the anthologies Best American Poetry; NYC Insiders; and Contemporary Surrealist and Magical Realist Poetry. He has received a James Tate Award and a Kathy Acker Award for publishing and writing. He is the publisher of Live Mag! 

Poet Dennis Nurkse is the author of twelve collections of poetry, most recently A Country of Strangers, New & Selected [Alfred Knopf 2022]. He served as poet laureate of Brooklyn from 1996 to 2001. His work has been translated into French, Russian, Italian, Estonian, and other languages. His poems have been anthologized in six editions of the Best American Poetry series, and he has received three Pushcart Prizes. Nurkse has also written on human rights and was elected to the board of Amnesty International-USA for a 2007-2010 term. For the Brooklyn Public Library, he edited This Beautiful Name is Mine, poems by inner-city children.

Poet Barry Wallenstein is the author of eleven collections of poetry, the most recent being It’s About Time [New York Quarterly Books, 2022]. A special interest is his presentation of poetry readings in collaboration with jazz. He has made twelve recordings of his poetry with jazz, the most recent being Lisbon Sunset (2018) and Lisbon Sunrise (2022). He is an editor of the journal American Book Review.

Ken Filiano, bass, performs throughout the world, playing and recording with leading artists in jazz, spontaneous improvisation, classical, world/ethnic, and interdisciplinary performance, fusing the rich traditions of the double bass with his own inventiveness.

Massimo Cavalli, bass, has recorded and played with major jazz artists world-wide. He’s made two CD recordings with Barry, Lisbon Sunset and Lisbon Sunrise.

Kaori Yamada-Lategano, drums, was born in Japan. She worked professionally in Tokyo for 10 years, then moved to New York in 2008. Kaori plays many styles of music. Jazz, R&B, Rock, Pop, Ethnic, Opera, and more. She’s collaborated with Barry in the past.