Sun 7/7 @ 7PM
Cuyahoga County Poet Laureate Emeritus Daniel Thompson, who died in 2004, was known for his close relationship with the homeless community. Despite living on the edge of poverty himself, he constantly provided whatever services he could to them and much of his work appeared in the Homeless Grapevine newspaper.
Thompson was also a member of the improvisational global music/spoken word ensemble Drumplay, founded by percussionist James Onysko in 1992. That ensemble has been through many permutations, many members and many collaborations, performed at festivals in Toronto and Europe, released numerous albums and contributed to movie soundtracks.
In a very real way, Drumplay pays tribute to Thomspon when it performs at the BOP STOP in a benefit for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. Onysko has assembled some mighty musical firepower for this show, including gongs/singing bowls master Paul Stranahan, drummer John Stebal, Tony Handy on djembe and other percussion, Tim Lane on congas and percussion, George Lee on upright bass, J. Scott Franklin on trumpet, fluegelhorn and vocals, and stepping in on spoken word, one of the only local performance poets/storytellers who could fill Thompson’s shoes, Ray McNiece.
Admission is $10.
Cleveland, OH 44113