Quincy Troupe, poet, editor, biographer and all-around literary light extraordinaire, is headed home to St. Louis. This time he arrives on a wave of funk, rap, jazz and poetry.
He comes to read and perform with two of St. Louis’ musical sons who have inscribed themselves on the jazz and world music scene, guitarist Kelvyn Bell and drummer Ronnie Burrage.
Troupe, Bell, Burrage have been traveling recently and performing as QKR. St. Louisans will get their chance to sip or swallow or even inhale (if they wish) the group at Ronnie’s House of Jazz (20 Allen Ave. in Webster Groves) on October 9 and 10 at 8 and 10 p.m. This is the first of a series entitled “In The House” and is curated by the honorable Hamiet Bluiett.
Bell and Burrage belong to what has been called the second wave of B.A.G (the fabled Black Artists Group), the young bloods who scored at St. Louis’ musical home plate just as the big boys – Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, the Bowies (Lester and Joe), Baikida Carroll and Charles (Bobo) Shaw – were headed off to the big leagues of New York City, Europe and other destinations out.
Bell and Burrage followed them and built impressive resumes to boot. Bell, at first, as acolyte to the great alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe and later as collaborator with Joe Bowie in the great funk band, Defunkt. He merged these teachings and concepts to finally deliver the essence in 1984 with his own band, Kelvynator, which New York Times music critic Jon Pareles hailed as “explosive and puts funk and dance in music in a way that refuses to be oversimplified.”
Burrage is known to drum and percussion lovers as the “quixotic man with the quick hands” who moves in and out of bebop, funk and soul with the ease of golden brown biscuits sopping sweet gravy. The boy can just groove! He’s played with everyone from Jackie McClean and Gary Bartz to Bluiett, Reggie Workman and McCoy Tyner.
Troupe’s credits, associations and accomplishments include extended tenures as professor of English at both Richmond College (the Staten Island campus of the City University of New York) and the University of California at San Diego. During his stay in San Diego he was appointed the first state poet laureate in the history of California. He has published numerous and award-winning books of poetry – my personal favorite being avalanche.
For many years he edited the ground-breaking journal of Third World Literature, confrontation, which itself sprang from Giant Steps, a seminal anthology that first exposed many of the most important Latin American, African and Asian poets, playwrights and novelists to a Western audience.
Other important tomes include a volume of collected appreciations and musings on the life and death of James Baldwin (editor) and his two most important and honored works, Miles: the Autobiography (co-author with Miles Davis) and Miles & Me, a memoir of his friendship with the jazz great which is in production as a film (Troupe wrote the screenplay) and has just been translated into French.
Troupe is in fact on his way to Paris in mid-October for a lecture/book signing at Paris’ famed Musee du Quai Branly to promote the French edition of the book. Whew!