Letter from the End of the Twentieth Century

Amazon.com The opportunity to hear poet Joy Harjo speak her work aloud is the major reason to get this album; hearing her poems and stories gives them a life and dimension beyond what one can glean from the printed word. Harjo is a strong, capable speaker who fits her words to the backing music while at the same time bringing them to the forefront. She is joined on this recording by the other members of the band Poetic Justice, which includes a tantalizing mix of bass, electronic and acoustic guitars, soprano sax, chants and songs, and a variety of percussion instruments including powwow drums and rattles. The music itself draws on several influences, creating a mix of Native American musical traditions along with reggae, jazz, rock, and blues. However, Harjo's poetry remains the focal point here, and in pieces such as "Creation Story," "Fear Poem," and "She Had Some Horses," the strength of her material and of her interpretation of that material shines through. --Genevieve Williams Product Description This is the classic contemporary native album first released by Silver Wave Records in 1997. It is newly released in 2006 by Joy Harjo's Mekko Productions, Inc.. This album is a unique blend of poetry, reggae, native musics, jazz and latin. You can dance to it. You can sing, laugh and cry to it. It is still one of the most requested contemporary native albums on native radio. Review “Harjo is a gifted writer who can both celebrate and contemplate the mysteries and cycles of our ongoing existence.” --Amy Ray, The Indigo Girls “Joy Harjo just gets better and better. Her writing and her playing go beyond just entertainment..." --Buffy St. Marie, internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter ...."The best dub poetry album to be released in North America... --j.poet, Pulse Magazine, 1997 About the Artist Joy Harjo is a multi-talented artist of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation. She is an internationally known poet, performer, writer and musician. She has published seven books of acclaimed poetry. They include: She Had Some Horses, In Mad Love and War, The Woman Who Fell From the Sky, and her most recent How We Became Human, New and Selected Poems from W.W. Norton. Her poetry awards include the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award, Oklahoma Book Awards, 200; The American Indian Festival of Words Author Award from the Tulsa City County Library: the 2000 Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award,: 1998 Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award: the 1997 New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas; the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She co-edited an anthology of contemporary Native women’s writing: Reinventing the Enemy’s Language, Native Women’s Writing of North America. It was pronounced one of the London Observer’s Best Books of 1997; and wrote the award-winning children’s book from Harcourt, The Good Luck Cat. She also contributed poetic prose to photographs by Stephen Strom in Secrets from the Center of the World. Harjo’s first music CD, Letter from the End of the 20th Century was released by Silver Wave Records in 1997. Harjo co-produced the album and is featured as poet and saxophone player. The album was honored by the First Americans in the Arts for Outstanding Musical Achievement and called by Pulse Magazine the ‘best dub poetry album recorded in North America”. Her recently released second CD or original songs, Native Joy for Real crosses over many genres and has been praised for its daring brilliance. It is currently nominated for three Native American Music Awards: Best Blues/Folk Album, Best Female Performer, and Best Songwriter for 2005. Harjo has performed internationally, from the Arctic Circle in Norway at the Riddu Riddu Festival, to Madras, India, to the Ford Theater in Los Angeles. She has been featured on Bill Moyers’, The Power of the Word series, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and was recently featured on a new Garrison Keillor show. Harjo was also the narrator for the Turner The Native Americans series and the narrator for the Emmy award-winning show, Navajo Codetalkers for National Geographic. Harjo’s other accomplishments include co-producer and talent of the music video “Eagle Song”, nominated for best music video at the American Indian Film Festival 2002. For overall contributions in the arts she was awarded the Eagle Spirit Achievement Award by the AI Film Festival. She is the co-writer of A Thousand Roads, a 40 minute narrative film that is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this year, and will be housed as the signature film at the National Museum of the American Indian in April 2005. She has served on the National Council on the Arts. She is a professor at UNM, and when not teaching and performing she lives in Honolulu, Hawaii where she belongs to the Hui Nalu Canoe Club.
ASIN: B000000PPX
VSKU: DBV.B000000PPX.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Joy Harjo
Binding: Audio cd
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!