Jason Hardimon/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 10/30/09
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness," begins
Allen Ginsberg's groundbreaking 1956 work titled, "Howl," the most
popular poem of the beat movement.
"Howl" opened the door to the expression of many feelings, which up
to that point had been hidden and repressed, said history professor
Bailey Young.
"Of course, a lot of people were offended by it, but it had a big
influence on how the sixties developed," he said.
Six members of Eastern's faculty and administration will be
accompanied by a jazz combo composed of faculty and students. They
will recite "Howl" and other notable works of the beat movement at
the Charleston Alley Theater this weekend in a production called,
"The Beat Goes On."
The performers include David Radavich and Young, who compiled the
works and directed the production, along with Jeffrey Lynch, Daiva
Markelis, Debra Valentino, and D. Craig Banyai. Paul Johnston
provides the musical direction and plays with his combo, featuring
Andy Baldwin, Eric Fitts and Josh Marcus.
The performers all agreed that, like jazz, beat poetry is a highly
intellectual form of art, utilizing techniques such as improvisation
and rhythmic experimentation, and is closely associated with the free
use of the mind and body.
"Jazz and beat poetry are complementary strands of distinctive
mid-20th century American art," Young said.
Beat poetry was emerging and jazz was entering it's "cool" period
during a decade which many Americans associate with Leave it to
Beaver and malt shop, Radavich said.
"That's what I love about the fifties. It's always talked about as a
quiet period, but in truth it wasn't quiet at all," said Jeff Lynch,
dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. "There was actually a lot
going on."
The literary selections include works by Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gary
Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane di Prima and Anne Waldman; and
the combo will play compositions by Charlie Parker, Miles Davis,
Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk.
The performances are scheduled for 7:30p.m. Friday and Saturday, and
2 p.m. Sunday.
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Jason Hardimon can be reached at 581-7492 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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