BEATNIK CAFÉ by Namaya Premieres at Richmond Shepard, 4/11

BEATNIK CAFÉ by Namaya

Musical Revue of the Jazz Beat Generation

April 11, 2010 7 PM
at the Richmond Shepard Theater
309 E 26th St. (@ 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10010
(212) 262-6588
http://www.richmondshepard.com/

BEATNIK a musical revue of the Jazz Beat Generation will make its NYC premiere on April 11, 2010 at 7 pm. Take a trip back in time to visit the Beatnik Cafe scene of cool jazz music, Jack Kerouac, and poetry of the 40s to the 60s live at the Richmond Shepard Theater located at 309 E 26th Street at 2nd Avenue NY, NY.

Beatnik Café will star living legends of the Beat Generation: Sheila Jordan the jazz legend and friend of Charlie Parker, Lillie Bryant Howard jazz & blues singer with Swan Records, and Richmond Shepard appearing as Lord Buckley.

Sheila Jordan ( http://www.sheilajordanjazz.com) tells stories of that era and sings her tribute to the Bird, and Lillie Bryant Howard of Swan Record fame is featured http://www.myspace.com/lilliebryanthoward . The revue is interwoven with stories and writings from Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Allen Ginsberg, and other beat generation writers, and the humor of Lord Buckley. Richmond Shepard (http://www.richmondshepard.com), who performed with Lord Buckley in the l950's, will perform Jonah and the Whale. Chris Bakriges (http://www.bakriges.com/) on piano is the musical director with Chris Sullivan on bass ,(http://www.myspace.com/christopherdeansullivan), Michael T.A.Thompson on percussion, Allen Won on Saxophone http://www.allenwon.com. Maggie Kus and Kat Gang are background jazz vocalists. Jake Lewis portrays Jack Kerouac. Namaya ( http://www.thejazzpoet.com) the playwright, is the Beat Poet who guides the audience through the cultural, history, politics, music and stories of the beat era. Naomi Bennett (http://www.notjusttheater.org.) is the director.

Annie Guyon of The Rutland Herald said: "The Beatnik Cafe is an artistic simpatico that's tough to cultivate in a multimedia ensemble piece of such complexity." Beatnik Café "Is one hip, high-caliber theatrical event." This unconventional cabaret is part homage, part history lesson, part pop-culture happening, weaving renowned gems such as Brubeck's "Take Five," Monk's "Round Midnight" into the socio-political fabric of Ginsburg's "Howl, "Coney Island of the Mind" and more mainstream iconography such as James Dean and Dobie Gillis. Taking the audience from the Beat era's big band beginnings in the 1940s through quirky 1950s TV hits and into smoky New York City clubs, Moroccan opium dens and the teeming North Beach poetry scene of the '60s, Beatnik Café is an engaging timeline of the musical, literary, and trend-setting luminaries."

Beatnik Cafe is a high-energy musical revue which features the music of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Cannonball Adderley, and other prominent musicians from the mid l940's through the early sixties. It is a journey through the Bebop to the Beatnik era; songs including Twisted, Yip Rock, and the scathing social commentary of Nina Simone's Mississippi Goddamn. If you liked Smokey Joe's Café, you will love this!

The audience is invited to dress in their beatnik & hipster threads and finger pop themselves back in time. Go - daddy o'!

Tickets and further information $20. can be ordered at: booking@thejazzpoet.com (802)380-3483.