Album Notes

Who is this N-Side? I never heard of him? Where did he come from?

He is Norman Woods aka N-Side. N-Side is a performing jazz/poet, screenwriter and music publisher from the S.F. Bay area. A native of Berkeley, California, he has always had an aspiration to be an artist of some description and has always supported the arts in some way emotionally, financially and resourcefully.

Some say he has seen it all. From Jimi Hendrix plays Berkeley to the Silicon Valley explosion. In his own word he would say, " seen a lot, heard a lot, done a lot, had fun a lot and everything in between! You can believe that! From Vietnam anti-war protest to rainy days of homelessness, trust him when he says he has a story to tell and has always found a way to smile through "Hard Times on Planet Earth" one of his early soon to be re-releses on recordings on Shalamar Records and the CD: LIVE @ Cafe Valparaiso.

His work is done in a traditional style reflecting his love of the poetic works from the Harlem Renaissance era of poetry. Most of his poetry is influenced by the writings of Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen and so on. His contemporary jazz influences include, but are not limited to Red Garland, Donald Byrd, Gil Scott-Heron and his favorite poet, Kamau Da'aood.

N-Side's "reflective poetry" is said by some that "his simple words speak volumes of fundamental truths in a few stanzas, with smooth-up tempo jazz creating oceans of emotion", Mark States, Poetry Express. N-Side's poetry covers a variety of subjects such as education, hope, healing to personal empowerment. His vision of the symbiotic relationship between jazz and poetry was built on his love of jazz and the philosophy that "sometimes the best place to find a good pair of hands, is to look down at the end of your arms!" and that "art unified in motion will create magic!" Let me welcome you to the N-Side.



Art unified in motion creates magic!

N-Side