Janice A. Lowe: Leaving CLE
Leaving CLE
Leaving CLE is made from the detritus of reverse migration. Its poems move from Cleveland to New York City to Tuscaloosa’s “schoolhouse door” and back again. They travel and party with a musical Cleveland from Art Tatum’s 1920s to Albert Ayler and from Ohio Funk to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. They collage a shifting sense of home and negotiate the gift horse of flashbulb memory. Remembering is a character. Houses speak.
Janice A. Lowe
Cleveland native Janice A. Lowe is a composer, poet and performer. She is the author of the chapbook SWAM. Her poems have appeared in Callaloo, American Poetry Review, The Hat, In the Tradition, The Poetry Project Online and are featured on a digital album with Drew Gardner’s Poetics Orchestra. She composed the musicals Lil Budda (text by Stephanie L. Jones), Sit-In at the Five and Dime (words by Marjorie Duffield) and Somewhere in Texas (book and lyrics by Charles E. Drew Jr.). She has composed for the plays 12th and Clairmont by Jenni Lamb, The Super Starlet Shero Show by The Jones Twins and Door of No Return by Nehassaiu deGannes. She is a co-founder of the Dark Room Collective and has performed with the experimental bands w/o a net, HAGL and Digital Diaspora. Lowe has taught poetry and performance at Purchase College and Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program.
Yohann Potico
Yohann Potico grew up in a West Indian family in France. Originally a drummer, he began playing bass in his late teens and discovered an instant connection to the instrument. Potico brings a distinctive perspective to his playing, producing and composing, blending an eclectic mix of influences ranging from soul and jazz to funk and trip hop with a unique melodic approach. He performed and recorded with Brooklyn-based independent rock trio California King from 2007 to 2014. He has performed and recorded as a session musician with numerous bands including Sierra Leone-based hip-hop group Dry Eye, soul vocalist Annakei house/techno producer Michele Papa. For three years, Potico has been in residence as bass player for the Eastern European and North African influenced group Balkan Stomp.
Kevin Carnes
Kevin Carnes is a drummer, composer and producer based in the Bay Area since 1984. He founded the Afro-punk-industrial band Beatnigs and is celebrating 25 years as a founding member of Broun Fellinis. Carnes has served as musical director/composer for City Circus and the Marin Theatre Company production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean.
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Photo: Janice A. Lowe. Photo by Eric Perl.