Rae Marie Taylor's voice provides a haven for our encounter with sound, while fierce or tender, always enlivening, her original poetry stirs the heart and mind.

18 MP3 Songs
SPOKEN WORD: With Music, WORLD: Native American



Details:
Rae Marie Taylor, Spoken Word Poet

On stage with her feisty or lyrical poems, Rae Marie Taylor's voice provides a haven for our own encounter with sound, whether at the Festival International de la Poésie à Trois Rivières, Casa Del Popolo in Montreal or the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Revealing a preoccupation with geography and identity, Rae Marie's solo performances of original poetry first accompanied her sculpture and installation exhibits. More recently, in response to her enthusiastic publicâs request, she released a Spoken Word CD, Black Grace, with original music by Montrealâs celebrated David Gossage. Rae Marie and David have continued their collaboration with new shows, often bilingual performances, in Montreal and Quebec City, and with her show An Earthly Hour, A Human Time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Chant du Nord, regard du Sud her most recent show was performed this year at L'Espace Félix Leclerc on Ile d'Orléans and in Quebec at L'Intendant.

Touching the minds and hearts of her public, she also performs with other Montreal and Quebec City writers in a variety of English and French venues. Her poems, essays and drawings have been published in art publications and academic reviews in the province of Quebec and the American Southwest. She is a former teacher of Creative Writing and Native American Literature at Dawson College.

This vibrant poet and visual artist originally hails from the Rocky Mountain/ Rio Grande area of Colorado and New Mexico. Much taken with the St. Lawrence Valley and its people when she came to study in French at Laval University, she eventually adopted Quebec City as a northern home.

DAVID GOSSAGE who composed the music for the poems is one of Montrealâs most respected and experienced musicians/composers. Once cited by Gazette music critic as âMontrealâs secret weaponâmulti-instrumentalist David switches from flute to guitar, piano, to whistles to harmonica with ease and in virtually all styles of music. He attended the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and later received his degree from Concordia in Montreal specializing in theory and composition. Considered one of Canadaâs best flute players his list of sessions is impressive, ranging from Michel Rivard, Kevin Parent, Paul Piche to the Cirque du Soleil, Brendan Nolan and many National Film Board and Canadian Broadcasting film, radio and TV productions.

As a composer and arranger David has also worked in theater and poetry, recently completing a CD of all original music for the poetry of Montreal Spoken Word poet Rae Marie Taylor and previously for the poetry of e.e.Cummings, Pablo Neruda, W.B.Yeats and other celebrated poets. He has worked extensively as an arranger at the National Film Board and his most recent arrangements for the animated short When the Day Breaks won a Gemini, the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for an Oscar. With his own and other Celtic groups he tours regularly in Europe and North America.

Rae Marie Taylor's voice provides a haven for our encounter with sound, while fierce or tender, and always enlivening, her original poetry stirs the heart and mind. David Gossage's fine contemporary classical music weaves in, adding to the intimacy of our amazement and wonder, or the balm we find for our grief.