Reggae and Salsa Featured in ‘Reverberations’ Series

The yearlong lecture and performance series "Reverberations: Music of the African Diaspora" will continue with two events in April --- a guest lecture by poet, musician, and music scholar Kwame Dawes and a performance by Jimmy Bosch and His All-Star Salsa Band. Dawes will talk on " ‘Reading’ the Reggae Lyric: Sensuality, Faith, and Radical Politics" at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 5, in Klingenstein Lounge, Phillips Hall. Bosch and his band will perform on Saturday, April 7, at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.

Kwame Dawes, currently an associate professor of English at the University of South Carolina-Columbia, has published six volumes of poetry; written critical articles on literature, theater, and film; authored almost 20 plays; and was a lead singer and songwriter for a reggae band. He has also written two nonfiction books, Natural Mysticism: Towards a Reggae Aesthetic and Talk Yuh Talk: Interviews with Caribbean Poets. In addition, he has edited an anthology of reggae poetry, Wheel and Come Again.

His critical essays on Caribbean and African literature and issues of race and identity have appeared in such publications as Ariel, World Literature Today, Poetry Review, Journal of West Indian Literature, and African American Review.

Trombonist and composer Jimmy Bosch, who started performing at age 13, has developed a trombone style that ranges from the expressively melodic to raw, funky, and hard-driving. He has been identified as the pioneering figure in salsa dura (hard salsa), a form of salsa whose rhythms originated in Cuba and nearby islands and were reshaped by Caribbean immigrants in New York City. Bosch is music director and a featured soloist for Latin pop superstar Marc Anthony.

For more information call assistant provost Tanya Saunders at 274-3063.