BY: Susan Spit-Fire
Mr. Johnson gets his motivation from such Jazz legends as Gerald Albright, Boney James, and the late great Grover Washington, Jr. He has been headlining recently at various local venues such as Hettie's, Reggie’s Backstage, the St. Louis Jazz Café, and the Cigar Inn. He also performs for Southwestern Illinois College frequently, where he shares his art in honor of Black History Month and other cultural and artistic events at the beautiful Schmidt Art Center. Rosmon is a SMSgt and Civil Engineer for the U.S. Air Force, in which he has served for some twenty-eight years. He currently resides in O’Fallon, IL.
Katerina Canyon, a productive and award-winning Poet, Author, and Spoken Word Artist from Los Angeles, CA. will open up for Rosmon. The Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga from 2001-2003, she also received the 2002 Virginia Allan National Young Careerist award from Business and Professional Women/USA for her work in the community with poetry. She created the Shouting Coyote Poetry Festival and hosted the Eccentric Moon Poetry Reading for two years.
Katerina’s performances are potent and intriguing; illuminating her sharply honed writing skills. She’s been featured in cities across the U.S., such as Manhattan, N.Y., Philadelphia, PA., Stafford, VA., Baltimore, MD, Wilmington, N.C., and Hollywood, CA. She’s published two chapbooks and one cd of her work. Canyon’s been published in Sepia Poetry Magazine, Lucid Moon Magazine, Interracial Magazine, Muse of Fire Magazine, Dream International Quarterly, Foothill Leader, Peace & Freedom Magazine, Insects are People Too Magazine, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, and Open Wide Magazine.
Also gracing the stage will be Dave Black, prolific and distinguished Musician and Songwriter from St. Louis. Recently voted Best Jazz Artist by The Riverfront Times, Dave’s diversity and originality when it comes to music is amazing. His enthralling live shows perfectly highlight the skills he’s built up over the span of his twenty-three year career. He’s performed with a variety of artists, including Latin-Pop singer Javier Mendoza, Funk-Rock group Dangerous Kitchen, Jazz-Organ legend Richard “Groove” Holmes, Jazz Guitarist Bucky Pizzerelli, and Sessions Big Band.
Black appeared on The St. Louis Guitar Summit, produced by The St. Louis Classical Guitar Society, and his solo guitar arrangements were featured in a book entitled Fingerstyle Jazz (Warner Brothers). Dave’s currently an adjunct professor at Webster University, where he teaches Jazz Guitar, Jazz Ensemble, and Music History. He has two CD’s – Alone and Together, and Destinations, which features all original compositions that range from Jazz to Funk, Fusion, Samba, Tango, and Celtic.
South Carolinian Vocalist, Producer, Poet, Emcee, and Spoken Word Artist Taylored Poet will join us as well. She is highly respected in the local Arts community. She made her debut in 2002 as a Singer and Spoken Word Artist at Legacy Books and Café’s Urb Open Mic, and has been rocking stages across the country ever since. Her performances are compelling and incredibly touching, and her voice is powerful and authentic. She has been featured all over the Bi-State area, and in New York, South Carolina, and many other states. She created and owns Out Tha Box Entertainment and is the producer and host of The Sipher, which goes down every third Sunday in The Lou. Her wildly popular spoken word CD Shades of Gray was released in 2005. She is currently devoting her time to her studies at Kaplan University and to the creation of her first novel. She and her wife now reside in the city of St. Louis.
Our Special Guest for the evening will be St. Louisan Vella “Skyy” Jones, a well-known and very gifted Poet, Author, and Spoken Word Artist. A native of Kansas City, Mo., her work possesses a musicality and emotion that is both poignant and distinct. She performs all over the Bi-state area and was recently honored at SoulSTAGE (Nubia Café) with fellow poet Pacia Anderson. Her influences include Malcolm X, Zora Neale Hurston, Iyanla Vanzant, Miles Davis, Enoch is Real, Tech 9, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Nodzilla. Vella, known affectionately as Skyy in the spoken word community, is also interested in sports, basketball, movies, and reading. To learn more about Miss Jones, please visit one of her websites: http://urbalist.blogspot.com , http://www.soulsistahs.net , http://starvationarmyunited.
On top of all that goodness we’ll have a free Open Mic Session for performers, great cigars and drink specials, a warm and friendly staff, free Wi-Fi, and big-screen TV’s. So come and join in the fun at The Cigar Inn as we continue to bring you the best in local arts and entertainment. I’m looking forward to seeing you. Peace y’all!
Love & Hugs, Spit-Fire
