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E.J. Antonio

About Me

Poet E.J. Antonio, a 2009 fellow in Poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a recipient of fellowships from the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Cave Canem Foundation, envisioned her debut CD, Rituals in the marrow: Recipe for a jam session, as an “in-the-moment jam session.” This recording is a unique blend of spoken words that dance with the sonic diversity of instruments as they wind their way through the genres of jazz, blues, gospel, r&b, and Afro-Latin rhythms.

All the tracks are live collaborations with no rehearsals and the musicians include renowned jazz bassist Christian McBride, Christopher Dean Sullivan (acoustic bass), Saco Yasuma (bamboo sax), Joe Giardullo (reeds), Eddie Allen (trumpet), Mark Taylor (French horn), Tyehimba Jess (harmonica) and “sound rhythium” Michael T.A. Thompson (drums). Every track, with words that drip like honey from Antonio’s mouth, is clearly live improvisation at its best.

Antonio has appeared as a featured reader at a number of venues in the NY tri-state area and her work appears online at www.thedrunkenboat.com, poetz.com, roguescholars.com, and has been published in various Journals and magazines; including, African Voices Literary Magazine, Amistad Literary Journal, Terra Incognita, Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire, Mobius: The Poetry Magazine, The Mom Egg Literary Journal, One Word/Many Voices: A Bi-Lingual Poetry Anthology, and Torch. The Premier Poets Chapbook Series published, Every Child Knows and she is one of the featured poets on the CD, Beauty Keeps Laying It’s Sharp Knife Against Me: Brant Lyon and Friends. For more information, www.EJAntonioBluez.net.