Joel Veena

Joel Veena & Gordon Korstange present Raga Poems, accompanied by Mir Naqibul Islam Poet and flautist Gordon Korstange and Indian slide guitarist Joel Veena have collaborated to create a unique performance combining Korstange’s spoken word poetry with Indian ragas played on the 20-stringed Indian slide guitar and bamboo flute. Each poem is paired with a particular raga based on the emotional content and expressive quality of the lyrics. During the performance, poets and musicians improvise a fresh rendition of the poem in each iteration. Mir Naqibul Islam, accompanying on tabla, will also present some traditional compositions of the tabla that tell a story: first as spoken word then in the language of the tabla.