DESCRIPTION:
"Somebody Blew Up America" by Amiri Baraka with Rob Brown-saxophone, recorded live on February 21, 2009 at The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy NY.

The poet icon and political activist Amiri Baraka performs with Rob Brown, an eloquent and versatile saxophonist with a deep knowledge of jazz, in a reading from his book "Somebody Blew Up America & Other Poems.

This production is part of "Free Jazz at the Sanctuary," a 13-part series of performance videos featuring some of the world's most talented improvisers.

The complete series consists of performances by:

The Thirteenth Assembly (Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomas Fujiwara, Mary Halvorson, Jessica Pavone)

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble (Kahil El'Zabar, Ernest Dawkins, Corey Wilkes)

From Between Trio (Michel Doneda, Tatsuya Nakatani, Jack Wright)

Michael Vlatkovich Quartet (Christopher Garcia, Jonathan Golove, David Mott, Michael Vlatkovich)

Sax Soup Poetry and Voice (Joe Giardullo, Pierre Joris, Nicole Peyrafitte)

Trio Tarana (Sam Bardfeld, Ravish Momin, Brian Prunka)

The Ras Ensemble (Clif Jackson, Dave Miller, Ras Moshe, Tor Yochai Snyder)

William Hooker

Empty Cage Quartet (Ivan Johnson, Paul Kikuchi, Jason Mears, Kris Tiner)

Weasel Walter Trio (Peter Evans, Mary Halvorson, Weasel Walter)

Splatto Festival Chorus (Dave Barrett, Michael Bisio, Ed Mann, Todd Reynolds)

Amiri Baraka and Rob Brown

Fay Victor Ensemble (Ken Filiano, Anders Nilsson, Michael TA Thompson, Fay Victor)

"Free Jazz from the Sanctuary" is a co-production of NY Media Alliance and the Arts Department at Rensselaer, made possible in part with support from the NYS Council on the Arts and the NYS Music Fund, established by the NYS Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisers.