'Nuff said at Village Blues Bar

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

The 'Seh Sup'm' poetry and live music event, held monthly at the Village Blues Bar, had probably its most diverse stagings last Sunday.

Ironically, though not small, the audience at the Barbican Road, Liguanea, venue was certainly smaller than it has been for previous stagings.

This may have been because the event was shifted from the last to third Sunday, accommodating the Kingston on the Edge (KOTE) schedule.

There was prose from Diana McCaulay, reading from her excellent debut novel Dog-Heart; a combination of dramatised reading from Dennis Scott's After-Image with accompanying music from M'Bala, Carolyn Allen and Fabian Thomas bringing across the words.

Michael Abrahams announced Bangarang Thursdays, adapting the persona of Prime Minister Bruce Golding, and Randy McLaren stepped out as the Creative Activist, paying special attention to the concerns of Jamaica's young people, many of whom are 'Progressive Youth'.

Then there was the reggae soul of Mario Evon, who ended his short stage stint on a John Legend note with Stephanie Wallace, plus the detailed photographs of Monique 'Mogi' Gilpin, shown on the screen above the bar.

It all made for a diverse, entertaining, satisfying night, rounded out by the open-mic contributions of Randall Richards, Dwayne Levine, Tajoy Stewart, Elva Clarke and Marie Scully, among others.