With Rakim, Speech, Chuck D, Nikki Giovanni, jessica Care moore, Ravi Coltrane, Mayor Ras Baraka, The Last Poets, Javon Jackson and Christian McBride Situation

Christian McBride – Musical Director

For one unmissable night, NJPAC’s City Verses program unites the leading voices in jazz, hip hop and poetry. The legendary lineup includes hip hop stars Rakim (Paid in Full), Speech (Arrested Development), and Chuck D (Public Enemy); award-winning poets and spoken word performers Nikki Giovanni, jessica Care moore, Ravi Coltrane, Mayor Ras Baraka, and The Last Poets (Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan, and Babadon Babatunde); Musical Director (and NJPAC Jazz Advisor) Christian McBride and the Christian McBride Situation. We’ll also celebrate the young poets who have participated in City Verses this year, and hear some of their incredible original work. Blaring horns and baring souls, these masterful artists exclaim their vision of justice, change, and joy.

This program is made possible by NJPAC and Rutgers-Newark’s City Verses: Elevating Voices through Jazz and Poetry initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This unique partnership between NJPAC and Rutgers University-Newark celebrates the rich historical connection between jazz and poetry, creates opportunities for public engagement, strengthens community ties through the arts, amplifies the authentic voices of the people of Greater Newark, and engages a new generation of poets, jazz musicians and teaching artists.