| POETRY CURRENTS | |
MARCELLUS NEALY: LIGHT WALKER
I’ve known Marcellus Nealy, featured poet in this edition of Museletter, for about 10 years now. We first hooked up at The Library readings in Ogikubo on the Chuo line and since then Marcellus has performed at various clubs and events in Tokyo and abroad, including the Montreal Jazz Festival. Marcellus wears many hats: producer of events, poet, radio DJ, and sometimes jambe player. (If you’re in the Shibuya area on Friday nights between 10 and 11 pm, tune into 78.4 Shibuya FM where Marcellus hosts the show “Melodic Lover.”)
In many ways, Marcellus is the most experimentally progressive spoken word artist in Tokyo. He is the only poet I know of who can improvise lines of poesie to the accompaniment of live musical riffs. With the Modern Soothsayers, the jazz funk band, he bellows his soulful timbre in intensely expansive, expressive ways. For a sound clip from this venture, check out the “Sounds” page at Light-Walker.com, where you can also hear another of his collaborations, with electronica artist Nakamura Tatsuya. The first series of a new monthly event called “Night Vision,” “a conspiracy of art, poetry, and musical adventures” to be held at the newly opened Pink Cow in Aoyama, will feature Marcellus and Nakamura.
“Light Walker” is the name Marcellus uses to describe his activities at large and his positive approach to the arts. Here’s the poem of that title, which acts as a personal manifesto for Marcellus:
light walkerOn the Web site, Marcellus describes his intentions as follows: “Light Walker is dedicated to developing the power of free expression through literary, musical, and visual creativity. We are a team of poets, djs, musicians, video artists, photographers, event planners, event producers, event promoters, and various other types of creative thinkers.” Based in Tokyo, the Light Walker network extends across Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, England, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Senegal, Haiti, Belize and the U.S. The Light Walker Web site is morphing, expanding as time progresses, and welcomes contributions of sounds, photos and poems.
full motion
melodic commotion
crooners and post nooners
we trip across the scene
blend beats with the stream
of midnight hallucinations
slap demonic sonic
into the darkest seams
then walk in syncopated strides
across the beams...
Another of Marcellus’ interactions is the fusing of word to the sounds of techno dj and live guitarist Funky Gong, who’s a member of the dj group Joujouka. When I checked out this collaboration myself, I was amazed at the high level of synchronicity that Marcellus was able to add to the harmonies of Funky Gong. Yet another group to which he contributes is Nuphoria, whose “key ingredient in the recipe is groove and plenty of it,” and whose goals are to “explore musical expression and to bring live music back to forefront.” Nuphoria is “our revolt against the dark abysmal dungeons of Tokyo’s club scene.” Nuphoria is an event boasting jazz funk, poetry djs, live painting by Ponzi and video art by Masa. Even though the slightly didactic, rather new-age sounding rule for Nuphoria is to “Keep it Real,” to me it seemed that with all of Marcellus’ pushing the limits of artistic boundaries, the results of the experiments are often unexpected and perhaps “Keeping it Surreal” may be more accurate. Having said that, all of these enterprises have a real communal vibe. In fact, Marcellus was one of the key forces bringing the Poets Against the War event in March together at Seco Bar in Shibuya. Keep on shining that light, Marcellus!
Upcoming events featuring Marcellus Nealy:
- Nuphoria will perform at the newly relocated event space, restaurant bar Pink Cow, on Friday, November 21. The gig begins at 11 pm and continues until very late. Entrance fee is 1500yen including one drink.
- Also at Pink Cow is the first monthly “Night Vision” gig. This is a free event beginning at 8 pm on November 23 with Nakamura on instruments, dance by Sae, poetry by Marcellus and TransTexas & Special Guest.
MIGNETTES: MORE EVENTS IN JAPAN
- There will be two days of poetry and cinematography at an event called “Edge in Sendai.” Highlights of this event are the showing of the 60-minute video on Gary Snyder’s “Mountains and Rivers Without End” on November 22; a 60-minute video of sound poet Gozo Yoshimasu reading his “Urashima Taro’s Eyes,” and a 30-minute video on Shiraishi Kazuko’s “Ulysses” poems, as well as a short live reading by herself. For more information in English about the program, email go_edge@yahoo.co.jp.
- Gary Snyder will be the focus of an event called “Edge,” where Japanese poets (Tanokura Koichi, Ibu Toma, Ogasawara and Ishida Mizuo) dedicate their original poems to Gary Snyder and discuss how Snyder’s poems and thought are accepted in Japan. The ecologist Tabata Iori will join the discussions as well as Endo Tomoyuki and the poet Kido Shuri. There will also be an hour long documentary video on Snyder including his reading performance. This all happens in Cafe #2 on December 3 with doors opening at 6 pm. The 1,200yen charge includes one drink. For more info, email forpoets@airos.ocn.ne.jp.
- On November 15, Tokyo’s leading troubadour Frank Spignese will hold “Poetry Night” at one of the new main venues for English poetry readings in Tokyo, the Izekaya Gamuso. For an events calendar at this venue, check out the Gamuso Web site.
- Lastly, on November 22, the book store Caravan Books in Ikebukuro will hold Open Mic from 7 pm. Caravan Books is one of the newer spaces for readings and also hosts events such as book discussions and children’s book readings. Caravan plans to hold monthly open readings. Email treid@booksatcaravan.com.
- No Vision Will Tell, 100 Selected Poems 1992-2002 by Scott Watson (Bookgirl Press, 1,500yen)
For David Burleigh’s review of this book, as well as a review of Peter Robinson’s Selected Poems 1976-2001 from Carcanet, check out Japan Times Online for October 19.
- Collection of Linked Quatrains: The Cycle of Passion & Others, edited by Kijima Hajime et al (Doyobijitsusha, 2003, 3,200yen, hardcover)
Contributors to the linked quatrains here include Leza Lowitz, Margaret Mitsutani, Suzanne Jorn, and Neil Philip, just to mention a few.
- A Plain Squall, poems by William I. Elliott (SandStar Publications, Rockport, Mass.)
- A Book of Shadows, poems by William I. Elliott and Alan Botsford Saitoh (Katydid Books, 2003)
- Rotary Sushi: Many Kinds of Stories by Hillel Wright & 5 translations by Kizuki Mihiro (New Orphic Publishers, $20/2,000yen)
There was a launch party for this book at Bobby’s Bar in Ikebukuro, hosted by Leza Lowitz on Culture Day, November 3. The event also featured Malinda Markham reading from her prize winning book of poems, Ninety-five Nights of Listening.
