Poetry and Jazz in performance and improvisation
Poet Laureate Community Outreach Series
Partially funded by Poets &Writers
Free Admission ($10 contribution suggested)
Featured house ensemble includes: Christopher Dean Sullivan- Jazz Griot/Bassist, David Lowe-Keyboard, Ayana Lowe-Vocalist with Golda Solomon on Word.
Poet Laureates
Poems and Passion in Partnership
golda Solomon, Yonkers First Poet Laureate
and
Phylisha Villanueva, Westchester Poet Laureate
Phylisha Villanueva is a Belizean-American cultural worker and performance poet currently serving as the Poet Laureate of Westchester County. An author and educator, her work centers identity, healing, womanhood, and survival—grounded in lineage, ritual, and community care. She is the founder of Literary Lituation and co-founder of The Yonkers Writing Group, with over a decade of facilitating trauma-informed writing workshops across schools and cultural institutions. Known for immersive, PoetryLive performances with musicians, her work lives in the breath and body, shaped by rhythm, sound, and the energy between artist and audience. She is a member of the Jazz and Poetry Choir Collective and The Mirror Project NYC. To encounter her work is not simply to listen, but to witness.
golda Solomon, the first Poet Laureate of Yonkers, New York, is a poet, spoken-word performer, CUNY Adjunct Associate Professor, and Poet-in-Residence at Blue Door Art Center. She created Po’Jazz (Poetry in Partnership with Jazz), is a founding member of The Jazz & Poetry Choir Collective, and creates and facilitates ekphrastic creative writing workshops. A published poet and recording artist, Golda performs throughout New York City and beyond under the banner JazzJaunts, bringing poetry and jazz together as a powerful vehicle for creativity, connection, and community change.
Sandy's Snacks provides free snacks and beverages
Art Table for kids so parents may enjoy a lap-free event
Artists welcome to set up their easel and create
Po’Jazz began in 1999 at the Hudson Valley Writers Center, for many years at The Cornelia Street Cafe, traveled to colleges and jazz clubs, and is happily and creatively in residence at BDAC.
