Rhythmic experimentation, melodic innovation, intonations and expressions that can both playfully or profoundly challenge the boundaries of form and style, jazz and poetry are two art forms that can delight just as much as they confound. Artistic cousins and collaborators, jazz and poetry have a long history of conversation and cross pollination. In Tanzania, poetry has been sung as much as written, and jazz has given musicians license to experiment with new sounds as much as reach back to the sonic past.

This session of Pichatime x Nafasi Library explores the loose and free flowing connections between Jazz and Poetry, inviting poets and musicians to share their craft and highlight the creative impulses that drive them both.
We invite lovers of both music and poetry to join us for a special evening of poetry reading, live music, film and projections, and dialogues with Swahili poets and musicians.