the merc...its white hot

slamming at the merc...
the Merc is the home of the denver slam team (the #1 team in the nation). i want to give love to the slam team members present- soweto, ken, katie, last night shelle and I got to do our thing on their stage. simply amazing. they kick off their night with an hour or so of the house band...yea...the house band that has been doing it for eight years. this band plays behind any poet who wants to do a piece. it is an experience both good and not so good...but an experience nonetheless. then at precisley 7:30 the two list are set out-the open mic and the slam list. first of all you can only be on one of the list, secondly the slam list only has eight slots (yeah just eight slots first come first serve). ken arkind the host took care of us, kinda gave us the nod when he put the list out (he made sure we got on it). and we were thrilled....until we (i found out) that andrea gibson was going to be in the slam. if you don't know andrea gibson check with know 13...it was already a hot slam list with the denver coach and longtime slam team member paulie lipman...the boy is cool as a fan and hot at the same time.., ian was a crowd favorite and for good reason he had words, passion, and that special thing that the good ones have...and then there was the kid...denver's 16 year old phenom...the boy was scary...it was like he was channeling old souls... i interrupt this program to bring you a slammaster confession- i am going to steal ( i mean incorporate a number of things that i saw in their show into neo soul's slam show; 1. at 2:50 seconds the timekeeper raises their hand then the audience raises their hand to help the poets, 2. the host gets name, occupation, and silly question answer from the judges (personal and cool), 3. the audience encourage the poets that are stumbling on words...by snapping their fingers... 4. for each successive round it is low to high with one exception the high score gets to choose where they want to go (needless to say Andrea chose last each time)and the fourth one i gotta give some thought to.

i skipped over the open mic...sorry it was nice; mental note (actually written note), if you go to the merc you can probably do two pieces during the open mic. but i would recommend the slam... gotta run and get some grub...i will do a recap of last nights slam...holla, miss ya'll

slammin at the merc

so first thing we notice is that the order of the slam is set by the host and his crazy as# sidekick (he was on the stage the whole time...jo and angie be ready we may add that to our show too. so i would say that shelle chose the one spot but she was more or less made the one. sista took it in stride...after a few moments of i can't believe its (i thought she as gonna hit me because on our way over there i was screaming give me the one...i want the one...isis you got the one i'll trade ya...but luckily she forgot..until now)...i was # five and andrea gibson was #4 lucky me...paulie and ian were 7 & 8, respectively. ken was a great host...energy, sense of humor, and charismatic. shelle got up...took the high altitude stage...with her super sexy...sista was flawless...held them on every word. i saw one girl reel back when she hit the grammy and oscar line. ripped it stepped down like she was at home...the judges were not kind but the crowd was hers...the phenom got up third...did a real complexed piece about a beaver skin hat...the judges blasted him with (time penalty included) 18pt something...they weren't playing. then came andrea i did that thing that i tell poets not to do (don't become a fan get your mind ready for competition)...my mouth dropped...she held me in her every word. she did the high score 28 pt something...i take the stage (and though i've lost some weight i was out of breath before i got to the mic)...hit the 98% white audience (that was great) with dr king. i brought it pretty strong...i was reminded earlier in the day that i haven't slammed in a while can you say pre nats. i gotta good response from the crowd more importantly...we gotta a look of yea...neo soul ya hot from our fellow poets- now is a good time to show them love- soweto, paulie, katie, ken, jaime (and lovely fiancee), phenom, robc, jen, andrea (wow), olutnjue, and micheal "don't call me mike" jones. they opened their hearts. i gotta 25 high good for second place at the time. paulie and ian bumped me to fourth. but i was blessed enough to go to the second round. i went first caught them off guard with oleta...got a really good reaction throughout ( i rushed it a little...i was breathy but not in a sexy way...because i haven't slammed in a while...worried about the time penalty). hit a 26.8 was good enough for third overall...missed second by .5 (ian 27.3). it was a cool experience...i have grown from it...i generated about thirty poetic ideas...finished a piece at the merc about the musical open mic (13 you will love it...) kicked back and watched a hot final round...by the way their flow is 8 in the first round, 4 to the second round, and 2 to the third round...the winner gets the option of doing a final piece for the night. another thing that is curious about their spot...each winner is automatically qualified to compete in the slamoff. by all accounts people said it was a hot slam...we contributed to that... got to sell a little product...my first sell ever (thanks shelle) was from a young guy who went through all of his change and handed me a plastic bag with 10 dollars worth of change and i gave him my cd...i will never forget that moment...i pray that he will feel it...i think he will. tonight we will be performing at the youth slam another opportunity to make connects...ohhhh by the way did i mentioned that ken wants to bring us back in a couple of months to do a denver run on poetry...with an angle towards performance at the kasbah in aurora (300 plus black)...holla

Cafe Nuba...Its Hot and Its Black

That was the repeated over and over (at least 200 times). The host Day would say Cafe Nuba...speaking to the crowd as if we were one...and in unison we would respond back its hot and its black. Very powerful...I want to import something similar to the Neo Soul scene. Now the irony of "its hot and its black" is that the audience was predominantly non black. It was a beautiful eclectic crowd. The Cafe Nuba experience is intellectually and artistically stimulating. You had an open mic that was interspersed throughout the night (it was a short list maybe 7-8 poets), you had a book signing, a series of the NPS filmed podcast, two poetic features (I was moved by Jaime Killsteinhe performed approx.8 pieces), a short film (Harlme 16), and a hot A@@ dj. Shelle and I did our thing and managed to get on the open mic. Suffice to say they got their first taste of Texas. Everyone was blown away that we had travelled so far. Much love was shown...Cafe Nuba.... We made some amazing connects. Landed two more opportunities to do our thing in Denver...Youth Slam on Monday and a Benefit (we have to be in costume to read) on Tuesday. We got to spend some real good time with three of the members of the Denver Team. We are going to hookup with them again Sunday at the Slam. OHHHHHHH I almost forgot my cds arrived this morning...thank you baby. Cafe Nuba... And I'm watching football so this blog is cut short for now...holla atcha...

Happy Trails

Happy trails was the first words I heard this morning...my dad called around 8 o'clock your time 7 o'clock our time...gotta love family...We started out this morning around 10 o'clock (11) on our way to Denver. And of course along the way we had a few interesting encounters. The one I will share took place at the gas station- before I could out of my car...a guy hurries over...scuse me my friend (with a hint of a middle eastern accent)...scuse me my friend I want to ask you a question. He says I know that it may sound stupid. At this time I am checking his hands...empty...checking his size...big enough to get his ass whipped. So I ease out of my car to send a clear message (not sure what the message is...but anyway I stood up). He introduced himself..Mark Trevino (and at that moment his middle eastern accent dissapated (check spelling)). I want to know what you would do if someone disrespected you and your family...these people broke into my home and stole my rifles, tv and a camcorder with the picture of my wife giving birth. And last week was my daughters birthday. At this point I have no clue where he is going with this...but typical Brian...listened earnestly (while watching his hands). He continues ...the police came by and told me that they knew who stole my stuff...but they weren't going to arrest them (this is when I was wondering if he thought it was me)...so I went over and confronted them...and allegedly they got hurt and we all went to jail...now my friend my question (finally) is would you have done the same thing? Of course I told him yes...he smiled and sayed I knew it...because are from Texas and if I did this there they would throw me a parade (I've obviously missed a lot parades)...That was less than one hour into our trip...
Got run...but just wanted to let you know that we made it to Denver...we have clocked more than 1,050 miles...we have seen the most incredible landscapes (God is an artist...where does he get the inspiration for things that inspire us)...We here...
We are getting ready to head over to Cafe Nuba...going hit the open mic, the slam...the event is full fledge art show- short movie, hip hop, and food...holla...love ya'll and miss ya..

The Taste of Texas... Neo-Soul Style

Tour begins 10/26/2006...with a bang
A Taste of Texas meets a Taste of winter...shelle and I began our odyssey around 10ish. Please check shelle's blog to hear her take on the miniature rent a car. Without question we were lifted by the many prayers for our safe journey. Your prayers were answered...we did not experience any of the bad weather from the most severe storm to hit Denver in several years. We factored the weather into our trip and in fact we modified our Thursday night destination..just to be safe. Instead of rolling into Denver (after a brisk 15 hour drive) we chose to come underneath the storm by heading to Santa Rosa, NM (just 11 hours drive time). We will head up to Denver mid morning...get settled and checkout the venue. We are product rich...If you didn't know Shelle dropped her cd and book-both our amazing; we have a tour poster; I have my old book and a new cd (with the amazing talents of Adesewa and Trey...and Rocky). We are too excited to be tired...(but I think we are)...We are going to do our best to represent...the true spirit of neo soul. Now to the crazy Sh@t... we saw on our way to Denver- first and foremost when driving in West Texas know that tumbleweed when assisted by a 35 mph wind at night is some scary stuff- we saw one that darted in front of our car(darted as if it had a mind of its own)- description six feet in diameter, very weedy and at least 5lbs. Then we saw the lawn jockey's sitting comfortable on a tree swing in Hale Center, just a stone throw away from 15 acres of cotton...I gotta run shelle needs to get on to check her e-mail and blog...