Poetry & blues

Series explores music, writing

The University of Hawaii at Hilo Art Department presents the Poetry & Blues Project, featuring Quincy Troupe, Kelvyn Bell & Friends.

The project includes two public events: Sound Art with Quincy Troupe and friends Lois Ann Yamanaka and Bridget Gray, Wednesday, 6-8 p.m., at the Palace Theater in Hilo; and Music, Art & Words: a public conversation with Kelvyn Bell, Oliver Jackson, Quincy Troupe & Lois Ann Yamanaka, Friday, 6-8 p.m., at the UH-Hilo Campus Center, room 301.

Sound Art presents a new dialog that will contribute to an evolving conversation that celebrates root music and oral tradition which has spread from Africa through the Mississippi Delta to St. Louis and Hawaii.

The Palace event will include cameo performances by the writer Lois Ann Yamanaka and 2011 Hawaii Grand Slam Poetry Champion Bridget Gray. Yamanaka will share excerpts from a recent work that illuminates the voices of the people of Hawaii and conclude the evening by extending an invitation to the audience to join the group for a public conversation that will focus on the importance of writing, music and art to our collective and shared humanity.

Advance tickets are $15 general, $5 students, cash only, available at the UHH Performing Arts Center and Hilo Guitars and Ukuleles. Tickets will also be available at the Palace the day of the performance.

The UH-Hilo event features a public conversation with Kelvyn Bell, Oliver Jackson, Quincy Troupe and Lois Ann Yamanaka, who will discuss the root influences of their current work, and the significance of these experiences to our collective humanity. It’s free and open to the public.

For more information, contact professor Mike Marshall, art department chairman, at 974-7524 or email mdmarsha@hawaii.edu.