Songs & Poems is a regular irregular open mic with no actual microphones available for aspiring poets, singers and musicians in the city of Shenzhen, China. The program combines the world of poetry and music of all genres into one eclectic evening. Some join us to read their own poems in English, Chinese, German or even Sanskrit! Some play the acoustic guitar, others play the traditional Chinese instrument, guzheng. Some sing a cappella, rap or simply read the songs of Madonna, Jay-Z and Shawn Colvin while some sing bhajans (that's traditional devotional songs from India). Indeed, anything goes in Songs and Poems. Join us as a poet, singer, musician or spectator! We'd love to have you at Songs and Poems!
Take 5 at Cafe 5
Thanks to everyone who joined us at the fifth Songs & Poems held last April 26 at Cafe 5. Rosa, the cafe's manager, even joined us and sang "True Colors" by Cindi Lauper.
Dave opened the program with his own tunes and set the cool vibe for the night. Dinanath Das read ancient wisdom Sanskrit verses from the Sri Siksastaka written by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and then played traditional Indian devotional music using a kohl drum. Ross sang "No Matter What" a cappella and Emily capped the night with a string of cover songs. We thank the poets who joined us that night: Dora, Melanie & Harry, Chris, Darcy, Matt, Jared and Gibble.
Big thanks to www.shenzhenstuff.com for helping us spread the word about Songs & Poems. We got into Shenzhen Daily again: check out the news at http://szdaily.sznews.com/html/2008-04/28/node_3.htm
Our photographer friend Chris Lay also took some photos and blogged about it on his site: http://www.alivenotdead.com/chrislay
We're on Facebook too. Join our group! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5904865884
Hope to see you in the next Songs & Poems!
Fourth Time, Baby!
This author was away when the the fourth Songs & Poems was held but that didn't stop the rest of the organizers and participants to have a swell time. In fact, they had a double swell time because the event also marked the official launch of Shenzhen's newest city guide, www.shenzhenbuzz.com
Our friends from Andes Cafe graciously hosted the event with beautiful manager Ximena gracing us with her presence and owner Jose stopping by later. James and Ranajit hosted the program. David G of www.shenzhenstuff.com , that awesome site that connects people in Shenzhen, also dropped by and checked the event.
Master kung photographer Jesse brought a couple of American rappers, who made the night shizzle with a dizzle. A friend from Facebook read her translation of a Chinese song. Chiyan wrote a poem about Ranajit, and James' stalker. "Shademaker" wowed the audience playing his own stuff with guitar. Regulars Emily and Darcy sang and read a poem, respectively.
Not bad for the fourth installment of Songs & Poems. The local paper even published our little event. Check it out here.
Wanna Host Us?
Cool cafes with suitable space and ambiance and easy to reach are where we usually hold our gathering. Intrested in hosting us? E-mail songsnpoems@gmail.com. Because our event is free, we are not capable of paying our host venues but you get publicity and we encourage our attendees to eat, drink and be merry!