Niche Wine and Art and Printed Matter Vancouver Present  

Book release party for Dan Raphael and Free Workshop

Featuring Dan Raphael and the music of Rich and Carson Halley

Hosted by Niche Poet Laureate Christopher Luna

Niche

1013 Main Street

Vancouver, WA

2-4pm

Reading in the Rain

A free poetry workshop with Dan Raphael

Do you wish that you could read your poems with less fear and mumbling, more energy and applause? Poets tend to be quiet observers, but the words you write can show you how to say them. This free workshop will focus on strategies for performing your work, providing tools, tricks, and perspectives. We’ll explore several presentation styles, and consider ways to use your “outside” voice, engage the audience, and work in a variety of environments. Bring another poet’s poem you like, and a couple of your own; be ready to move around a little, and to use a pen or pencil.

 6pm

Book launch for The State I’m In

Featuring the poetry of Dan Raphael and

The music of Rich and Carson Halley

The State I’m In (nine muses books, Winston OR) is a collection of 47 poems, divided up into 3 sections:  The City in Me (urban poems), Rain is My Favorite Color (rain and ocean) and One Among Many (other poems). Poems have appeared in 20 different publications/website, including Rattapallax, Portland Review, Otoliths, 5 trope Heavy Bear and Pemmican.

dan raphael has been active on the Portland poetry scene for over 3 decades as poet, performer, editor and reading arranger (including a monthly series that ran 13 years downtown.)  The State I’m In is his 18^th & newest book, while last September’s Impulse & Warp: The Selected 20th Century Poems, includes work from his first 13 collections. Children of the Blue Supermarket, a CD of performances with jazz saxophonist Rich Halley and drummer Carson Halley, was released in February. Current poems appear in Rattapallax, Otoliths, Raft, Heavy Bear and Caliban. He has performed at places like Bumbershoot, Wordstock, Powell’s Books, Red Sky Poetry Theatre, Eastern Oregon U and the Portland Jazz Festival.

Rich Halley is a saxophonist and composer who has released more than a dozen critically acclaimed recordings. He performs in settings that range from solo to large groups and most frequently in trio and quartet formats.

Rich was the leader of the Lizard Brothers, a sextet whose performances were both exploratory and rooted in jazz tradition, and Multnomah Rhythm Ensemble, a group that combined new jazz with multi-media. He is the leader of the Outside Music Ensemble, a group that does site specific performances in outdoor settings. For the last decade The Outside Music Ensemble has performed annual hike-in concerts in Powell Butte Nature Park.

Rich has performed throughout the US and in Canada and the Middle East. He has performed with Bobby Bradford, Andrew Hill, Michael Bisio, Julius Hemphill, Vinny Golia, Obo Addy, Tony Malaby, Oliver Lake, Michael Vlatkovich and Rob Blakeslee. Rich is a founder of Oregon’s Creative Music Guild.

Rich Halley was educated as a field biologist. His lifelong interest in nature and his love of adventure has informed his music and led him on many trips into wilderness regions around the world. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Carson Halley is a drummer and percussionist based in Oregon. Carson studied with Bobby Bradford at Pomona College and later began playing with his father. He has eclectic musical tastes and brings contemporary musical sensibilities to the music. Carson has performed with a variety of musicians in jazz and rock groups including Bobby Bradford, Vinny Golia, Shakespeak, The Wayward Trio and Ruby Starfruit.

Other March events featuring Dan Raphael

3/l3 Reading at Milepost 5 850 NE 81st at 7 in the monthly series organized by Duane Poncy and Patricia McLean. Another featured reader or two, plus some open mike time. If you haven’t been to Milepost 5 yet it’s worth checking out, and not just for poetry.

3/24-25 is the fledgling Cascadia Poetry festival organized by Paul Nelson & SPLAB. I’ll be teaching a workshop on how to perform your own poetry and reading on Saturday, as well as joining in on the morning discussions on Saturday and Sunday. Other readers include Sam Hamill, Judith Roche. Tim McNulty and Kim Goldberg. For a full list of activities (readings, panels, workshops and a nature walk) and participants, see http://splab.org/cascadia/