The Joint is Hoppin - Review by philipGtaylor

The Joint on Myrtle Ave

13may’15

The evening at the joint was an intimate one— at its largest, the gathering numbered eight people. Wine and beer flowed from the Joint’s bar, and tacos made with fresh ingredients from the farmer’s market were served. The Joint's owner Tanya sat down in the diner seating area with us poets and musicians after service was done, encouraging us to read and perform with a bright and pure enthusiasm that was enlivening.

​The lights were dimmed, the front door closed, and the cat let out of the basement; the performance had begun.

​Jessie Branch was the first to take the stage, bringing her guitar with her and performing two original songs. Jessie Branch is an incredible singer and songwriter, and her music is disarmingly beautiful. She has an unexpectedly wide range of vocal ability, and she poured her soul into every piece of her music. Without a doubt, Jessie Branch will be a name you will hear in the context of great performing musicians before the decade is done.

​After such an incredible performance, I washesitant to perform, but as all of our poet friends had not yet arrived, I decided to pass the time with a couple of original songs. I borrowed Jessie’s guitar, and once I made it to the stage, I played with the enthusiasm of a born stage-performer, if not the skill of one.

​Jessie Branch returned to the stage with a poem inspired by the Alice Notley reading at the Poetry Project on April 15th. I have known Jessie as a poet and friend for almost a year now, and have read most of her new work since meeting her; this piece was the greatest of them all. It was full of passionate discovery, confusion, and heart-chafing, unflinching honesty. I was brought to tears by the power of her reading, and informed her afterward that it would be a disservice to herself and to the poetic community if she does not continue to write with the same intensity and honesty as she did with that piece. We all had to take a short break where everyone gathered themselves after such a powerfully explosive reading.

​Riley San Nicholas was the next to get on stage, toting his acoustic guitar. Riley is an incredible instrumentalist, far and away the best of the evening, and accompanied his 4 original songs with vocals resembling the best of British Rock and Roll from the 60’s and 70’s. Tanya expressed her amazement at the talent gathered together that night, and Riley was an excellent example of the young and talented group of friends performing for each other that evening.

​Next up was Sean Contris, who after excessive urging from the rest of us, performed a few jokes from the standup comedy routine he had been developing in comedy clubs during his time in New York. He lounged across the coffee bar with the relaxed air of a regular performer, and made us all laugh with his stories. Without giving too much away, all I will say is that I never thought that a story about a pear wearing glasses could be so damn funny.

​I returned to the impromptu stage and read several pieces from my forthcoming book, CURB YOUR DOG. I selected a handful of pieces that dealt primarily with the New York Subway and the signs one finds there, holding conversation with them and their implied meanings. The pieces were much moreenthusiastically received than I had expected.

​Speaking of unexpected, Masha T. Jennings was next, reading a few pieces of poetry with the aplomb and flare of a natural performer. Although often reserved in their speech, Masha delivered these works with energy and gusto, and for a few minutes I was completely enthralled by the playful dealings with gender and social archetypes. Of course, the Russian revolution was mentioned, which Masha describes as “the founding act of my self.”

​Last, but certainly not least, AlisonCuthbertson read three poems to the small but rowdy audience. Although I didn’t know it at the time, this was actually the first time Alison had read any of her work in a performance setting. I was certainly fooled; Alison’s readings were confident and capable, and the first two pieces were filled with eerie beauty and magic. Her final piece, about Strawberry Jelly, was a surreal interaction with the subject matter that left one delightfully disturbed.

​All in all, this was an incredible evening of poetry and music shared by new and grand friends, full laughter, conversation, and uproarious applause. My only disappointment of the evening was knowing that we would not be able to repeat the event at The Joint on Myrtle again, as our time in New York was drawing to a close. I can only hope that we will all gather again in Olympia to have a similar evening of wonderful performance and friendship.