African Voices Hosts
Rhymes, Rhythms & Rituals Poetry Concert
in Brooklyn's DUMBO Park on August 22

On Sunday, August 22, 2004, African Voices magazine will present Rhymes, Rhythms & Rituals 2004, a free poetry and music concert, in DUMBO's Empire-Fulton Ferry Park featuring musical performances by powerhouse vocalist Karen Bernod (Some Othaness For U), Syndee Stewart & The Truth and Louis Reyes Rivera: The Jazzoets. The free event will kick-off with a children's storytelling and face painting hour at 2:30 pm.   Poets Tish Benson (Wild Like That Good Stuff Smellin' Strong), David Mills, Danny Simmons (Def Jam Poetry) and rising R&B singer Steve Wallace will add their spice to provide an afternoon of stimulating
rhymes.   Comedienne Radha Blank will host the event and The Griot Reading Series will host the Children's Storytelling hour. Rain or shine — bring a blanket!

For information call 212.865.2982 or visit www.africanvoices.com.

Rhymes is sponsored by NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, JP Morgan Chase, the New York Times, Commerce Bank and Rush Arts Philanthropic Foundation.

R & B songstress Karen Bernod (www.karenbernod.com) will headline the Rhymes, Rhythms & Rituals festival bringing her inspirational rhythms and sophisticated musical style to hundreds of music lovers in DUMBO. Compared to such legends as Roberta Flack, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn, Bernod effortlessly blends together soul, jazz, blues and hip hop to create a tantalizing new sound. The versatile artist is a coveted vocalist who has backed Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross and Erykah Badu. She will perform live with her band offering selections from her hit CD Some Othaness for U and a sneak preview from her forthcoming album Life at 360 Degrees.

Some of the musicians and poets scheduled to perform are:
Sydnee Stewart & The Truth is a four-peice poet band with Sydnee Stewart as lead vocalist. The band recently helped to launch the new DEF Poetry Plugged In brand for Danny Simmons. They are a mixture of poetry/hip hop blues/spoken soul. The band is currently playing in local New York venues.
Sydnee Stewart is a published poet, actor and playwright. She has won various poetry slams and competitions, was featured in the Langston Hughes documentary, "Hughes' Dream Harlem," which aired on cable networks BLACKSTARZ & HBO, was a featured poet on BET's Lyric Café and she is a featured actor in the HBO film "Everyday People" to air in 2004. For info www.clevah.com

Louis Reyes Rivera: The Jazzoets is an ensemble of poets and musicians that epitomizes a unique meld between Jazz and performance poetry. Led by the award-winning poet and Brooklyn's own unofficial laureate, Louis Reyes Rivera, this group has earned a solid reputation for getting into the gutside of both image and tone.

The Jazzoets instrumentalists are bandleader/composer Ahmed Abdullah, one of the living masters of the trumpet and a twenty-year veteran of the Sun Ra Arkestra; the highly respected storyteller/flutist/ percussionist Atiba Kwabena Wilson; poet-violinist Ngoma, a veteran of the NewArk Spirit House Movers and of the legendary duo, Serious Bidnez; composer/bassman Radu whose career spans
well over 25 years, backing up such legends as Roland Alexander, Sun Ra, and Radu.

David Mills is an actor and poet, whose roles have included Othello and Gabriel, the idiot savant, in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, FENCES. He has gained recognition for two one-person shows that center on the spoken and written words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and on the poetry and stories of Langston Hughes. He has performed in the Beinecke rare book library at Yale University, where Hughes' papers are kept, and lived in Hughes-house as writer-in-residence. Mr. Mills has a Master's in English literature and poetry from New York University and was a cum laude graduate of Yale University. He has studied acting at the Folger Shakespeare program in Washington, DC., and is a book critic for the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Village Voice.

Danny Simmons, a renowned painter of abstract-expressionist oil works, owns the Rush Arts Gallery in Manhattan and Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn. A poet and co-founder of the Def Poetry Jam performance series, he heads the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation with his brother, Russell Simmons, and he serves on Brooklyn Academy of Music's board of directors. He lives in Brooklyn.

Tish Benson is a Texas born Brooklyn based award winning poet, screenwriter,
playwright, solo performance and collaborative artist. She is a Franklin Furnace Performance Grant Recipient, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Recipient in Playwriting, and a Nuyorican Grand Slam Champion. Her film, Hairstory aired on Lifetime has won the Juror's Choice Award from the Link's Film Festival and Best Narrative Award from Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival. She has a MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and recently co-produced a performance festival in Harlem and published her book Wild Like That Good Stuff Smellin' Strong.

Steve Wallace is a promising young artist igniting the music scene. The Chicago native is a talented singer, songwriter and musician. With a repertoire of over a hundred songs, this gifted musician's sultry, soulful voice soars over the vibrant music he creates. Although his music evokes elements of Stevie
Wonder, Boys II Men, The Roots and Baby Face, Steve Wallace has his own style and it is the refreshing voice of the next generation of soul. His blend of hip hop, R & B, and classic soul showcases a powerful charismatic artist whose classically trained musicianship shines through in his tracks. Founded in 1997 by African Voices magazine, Rhymes, Rhythms & Rituals is a showcase for New York's hottest poets and bands in parks throughout the five boroughs. African Voices is a literary magazine founded in 1992 to highlight the literature, art and history of people of color.