Marvin X and the Baraka Brothers at NewArk NJ City Hall

Brother Shep of the Zulu Nation. When he heard Marvin X was on tour in Philly and NewArk, he was determined the poet was not going to leave NYC out of his tour. He connected with King Downing of WBAI and they co-sponsored his reading at the Brooklyn Commons Cafe.


Marvin X says, "My reading and talk at the Brooklyn Commons Cafe, especially being accompanied by Master Ngoma Hill on violin and flute, was the climax of my book tour. I must admit there is nothing like performing in NYC and the energy it commands of an artist. Performing with Ngoma Hill was a Sankofa moment, back and forward in time into the now. BAM artists know what to do when we connect on stage. We flow with the flow, no rehearsal needed. On the west coast, I have performed with violist Tarika Lewis and harpist Destiny Muhammad for over thirty years and we have never had a rehearsal.


I now have a clearer vision of my proposed performance in Oakland's BAMFEST 2020, Black August, with the Oakland Symphony conducted by Michael Morgan. We must include the Black Arts Movement Poets Choir and Arkestra, including BAM musicians from coast to coast. Sonia Sanchez has agreed to read with me as part of the Poet's Choir. As per musicians, my choices are Tarika Lewis on violin, Destiny Muhammad on harp, Tacuma King on percussion, Paul Smith on drums, and from the east coast, Ngoma Hill on violin, flute and the other 12 instruments he plays as well as his poetry. Can we leave out members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Danny Thompson and band leader Marshall Allen, or perhaps the entire Arkestra. Some may recall Sun Ra and I did a five hour concert without intermission with a cast of fifty musicians, actors and dancers at the Harding Theatre, San Francisco, cerca 1972.