Early Morning Reflection

Up early....too tired of being tired/to sleep/ Long walk on the streets of Morocco can't cure/restless confession/Unknown street signs and long stares/invite/reflections/of life that has taken another twist/another turn/I recite poetry into the air/to hear how it sounds/ new words I've never said before/ feels like Sonny Rollins/practicing his horn on a bridge/looking for his sound again/looking for his soul again/I'm looking/for the right words to say/again/ancient words/older than language itself/maybe I've been saying them all along/to myself/not loud enough for me to hear/Maybe I'll tell them to my son/ like my father told me/ and I didn't understand a word of it/ until now/I'll tell it to my son/ and he won't understand a word of it/until/ just like I didn't understand a word of it/until/now.

/steve/sapp/2008/universes

the trip to Ben Slimane

Ok Steve Sapp here...giving you another episode of Universes on the road in Morocco. Yes my people we are in Morocco...I guess if you are reading this you know that already...we just keep pinching ourselves everyday. ok so today we went out to Ben Slimane on a day trip to a teachers conference. They were learning how to teach English to students using music. The experience was interesting because they were very intrigued with how we use language and music. They kept saying we were the innovators of this style, and we kept telling them that we are just in the tradition of great artists like The Last Poets, Ntosake Shange, Sekou Sundiata, and Sandra Maria Esteves and that what we do is not really new at all. But they were excited about being introduced to something that was positive and spiritual. Since they were teachers they kept stressing to us the importance of teaching what we do and the importance of this tradition, and how serious we should take it. After answering numerous questions about how and where we got together, they asked us if we were sponsored back home in the USA, which made us laugh. When we told them that we have to hustle with every gig and dollar they were surprised, which made us feel good, that they thought that what we do is so important thatwe should have a sponsor. Now if we could find one it would help greatly but hey, the work comes first and the blessing are a blessing. After the event and performance, we drove back to Casablanca and decided to go to Rick's Cafe. Now for those who don't know this is the famous cafe from the movie "Casablanca"...now I know thats sounds like a real tourist thing to do and it doesn't really jive with our revolutionary image but we may never get back here, so damn it we decided to go.
AND WE HAD A BALL...Our waiter Semo Muhammad was really funny, spoke really good english and he told us dirty jokes that I can't repeat on this blog. But trust me, we laughed all night long and when you see us ask about the jokes, we'll definitely laugh before we tell you the joke. And if you don't laugh, I guess you had to be there.

the off day

yes, here we are....Steve Sapp.....on our off day going to the Hassan II mosque. A pretty amazing structure built over water. All I can say is that you just feel like you are in the presence of holiness. Where you marvel at the work and craftmenship of the building. Gamal was the only one they let in because he's Muslim, but that was cool, just standing there was enough. And plus, when one of us rides, we all ride, you know what I mean. As we were leaving, a fog seemed to drop from the sky and covered everything. I don't know it just felt like heaven. So now we go out to eat and all the Arabic that Ninja thought he knew was all dated and sounded as if he was in a Moroccan movie. Well thats what our guide Abdelkrim told him laughing hard. Ok...after laughing for two hours (I guess you had to be there) we took a walk through a little shopping medina. Gamal and Mildred bought olive oil to take home and then we heard the call to prayer echoing through the area. Hey, I'm not Muslim but I felt like dropping to my knees but I would never fool around like that but you do feel it. We then went over to hear the band GAWA Fusion who will performing on the bill with us at one of our venues here. They were rehearsing and they were excited that we were there. By the end of the rehearsal we were passing the mic back and forth....bringing us together through the power of music. Damn, I know that sounds like a hallmark card but hey it was fun.

After we got back, we decided to go out and get some more food, (yes we like to eat) So we decided to go out on our own. MISTAKE. We were quickly swarmed upon by a group of kids asking for money, and would not take no, or sal or any language that says no for an anwer. They just kept following and asking, and if they only knew that we don't have any money they wouldn't have wasted their time. But this is part of the experience. You can't be mad....We are in Morocco baby !!!!

Universes 1st day in Morocco

The first day is here and what a day it has been. We were met by Mars, the jedi of North Africa, who got us through customs with the jedi mind trick. I swear, we were going through customs and he literally walked us through everything without us stopping in the customs line. Even when the customs agent approached us with serious concern, he said a few words in Arabic and waved his hand like a jedi and the agents walked away with smiles on their faces. Welcome to Morocco. The next person we met was Abdelkrim, who works at the America embassy, and he is the cultural affairs specialist. He preceded to give us the blow by blow of the history of Morocco, and tell us about his connection to Spike Lee. He told us that it was his name that Spike Lee used for the character Radio Raheem for the movie “Do The Right Thing” He met Spike when he was a teacher at Duke. He was very excited about his history in movie history. Between him and Mars, it was a beautiful introduction to the country of Morocco. I have to say that it is interesting being in a place where you can’t blend in at all. When someone looks at us they know that we are not from here. Kind of weird not being incognegro, but the energy has been cool so far. After a quick two hour rest, we were up and about and on our way to Sidi Monument Center. A community center in the middle of town where the poor people live. A chance to see where the people live. This experience was truly amazing. We were br

ought in as the special guest for an event they were having with a local band. There were a room full of people, all smiling and excited for us to be there. To break it down for yall, it was just cool to vibe and soak in the local flavor. After the local band performed, they brought us up to perform. The other band was so excited to “jam “ with us that the second we started our brief set, they jumped on stage with us and started playing their drums and jimbe. Needless to say the sound kind swallowed us up, but the energy in the room pushed us forward. I don’t really know how we came across but we were standing on a stage in Morocco yall. How can you even question that ? Blessings. Its all a blessing. We are going to have to learn more words in Arabic, we are kind of lacking.

Yes....another day.....another day....So here we are at Jazz at Lincoln Center...Dizzy's Room...Universes is here.....to do that hoodoo voodoo that we do so well. Let me set the scene,(music starts to play, lets say some Coltrane) the time is 3pm and the room is packed yall. They had to turn people away at the door, yall (no lie)
Ok.. the event was free but it still felt real good. I just remember the early days of just hoping the poetry scene would take us serious, so here we are at Jazz at Lincoln Center....the road is long...the road is long...but I'm just glad we got a road to walk on. So we're hanging backstage, with our new homeys Alexis and Monauk from Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the time is drawing near. These two people have been our contact into the world of the Rhythm Road, and their energy and enthusiasm for the work just makes this fun. Now we can get a little crazy...a little silly and real serious all within a minute, and they are able to handle all of it. And I kind of feel sorry for Alexis because she is going on the road with for three of the countries. So our mission is to have her beatboxing before this is over. Damn, nothing like a little pressure. Oh yeah, the show....so if any of you know the little things about our inner sanctum we don't really like sitting around backstage too long because you can get a little restless, and bored, cause you just want to get out there and tear the room down, leave your essence all over the walls,.... sorry i got a little carried away.....I guess its just that open mic juice in us, so we had to "hang around for a couple of hours but between chewing raw ginger and looking for Wynton through the halls, we didn't break nothing.

Universes here...

Live at the nation's capital Washington D.C......Baby, Baby, Baby, we are in the house. 

OK time to be serious. This is the beginning of our Jazz at Lincoln Center Rhythm Road Tour. 

We are here on "official business", as cultural Ambassadors. We are here to meet with government officials about our African/European tour. We leave in a couple of days to Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey,Kenya and London ( in that order).

The meeting was very interesting to say the least. The representative of each country described their region. The most intriguing was the person who was there to talk about Kenya. Her approach to it all was very positive and we felt that if we didn't know anything about the political upheaval that was shaking things up over there, she wouldn't have said it. 

So we asked as many questions as we could ? 

After our meeting we went over to the National Geographic Society. An amazing experience, picture this, all these years, we know Africa through National Geographic magazines and videos, and here we are, performing live at the spot because we are about to "ambassadate" :) to Africa. Is that a word? Is that a word? Yes it is. At least in the Universes dictionary. M.m.m. 

To our surprise, the exhibit of a huge dinosaur at the entrance greeted us with a smile. 

The dinosaurs name was Nigersaurus. 

Ain't that some sh.. Yes, that is his name, and he was there to welcome us. So after all the jokes, you have to check back with us a little later to read about "The Legend of Nigersaurus". 

Anyway, our showcase was a double bill with The Kelly Johnson Quartet. An amazing Jazz Quartet. The turnout was good, we tore down the house and we were definitely inspired by our brother Nigersaurus.

Ninja got a chance to sit in the National Geopgraphic oard room, head of the table, I might add.  But no one was listening.

Pics: Here we included pics of our dear Nigersaurus.  

Alexis and Monauk from Jazz, were rollin with us in DC. 

Til the next.