Album Notes

In 1992-93 I was going through a nasty custody battle for my two young sons, then aged 5 and 3. A friend suggested I take Bob Holman’s Exploding Poetry workshop at the New School as a constructive outlet for my stress.

Bob had created the poetry slam with Miguel Algarin at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and would soon come out with the CD and then book “ALOUD Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.” During the New School workshop, he would occasionally write rather wacky homework assignments on the blackboard, which we could do or not. One of his assignments was: get a reading or start a series

A new coffee shop had opened on my block; Eureka Joe. It was an espresso joint with sofas and easy-chairs, very much like some North Beach beatnik-fantasy hangout magically transported from 1950-something. The Eureka Joe owners, David and Jackie, were eager to have a weekly poetry series. And so began tongue’n’groove.

Two years later, the tongue’n’groove spoken word series came to an end. As a grand finale, I recorded my favorite artists, asking them to perform something family-related. Family was on my mind and this CD was the result.