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Culture
of New Orleans
 Kalamu
ya Salaam was born Vallery Ferdinand III
on March 24, 1947 in New Orleans,
Louisiana. He attended Carleton College
(1964-1969), and Delgado Junior College
from which he earned an A.A. (Associate
Arts) degree in business administration.
Mr. Salaam is a professional
editor/writer, filmmaker, producer and
arts administrator.
He served as a senior partner in the New
Orleans based public relations firm of
Bright Moments Inc. (1984 - 1996) and is
a co-founder (with Kysha Brown) of
Runagate Multimedia, Inc. He is the
founder and director of NOMMO Literary
Society, a New Orleans-based Black
writers workshop. Salaam is also the
founder and moderator of e-Drum, an
informational listserv for Black writers
and diverse supporters of literature
worldwide.
His latest books are the anthologies
From a Bend in the River: 100 New
Orleans Poets (Runagate Press 1998) and
360∞ A Revolution of Black Poets (BlackWords
Press 1998). Mr. Salaam latest spoken
word CD is My Story, My Song (AFO
Records).
He is the recipient of a 1999 Senior
Literature Fellowship from the Fine Arts
Work Center in Provincetown,
Massachusetts; a 1998 Louisiana
Endowment for the Humanities Award, a
1997 Mayor Marc Morial's Arts Award, the
1995 Louisiana Literature Fellow and
guest editor of "The Music" (Vol. 29,
#2) special issue of the African
American Review. He is the poetry editor
for QBR: The Black Book Review.
He is the author of What Is Life?-The
Reclamation Of The Black Blues Self
(1994, Third World Press) and the editor
of WORD UP -- Black Poetry Of The 80s
From The Deep South (Red Beans and Brown
Rice Press1990), an anthology of forty
writers.
His jazz play, Body&Soul, is the 1996
awardee in Louisiana State University's
Native Voices competition. An excerpt
from What Is Life? was used on the
national ACT examinations as part of the
reading comprehension test.
Mr. Salaam is the leader of The WordBand,
a performance poetry ensemble. He and
musician Fred Ho comprise The Afro-Asian
Arts Dialogue, a poetry/music duo. He is
the producer and scriptwriter for
Crescent City Sounds (WGBH Radio
Boston), a nationally syndicated,
weekly, one hour radio program of New
Orleans regional music carried by over
70 radio stations.
He is also a radio producer and DJ for
WWOZ, 90.7FM in New Orleans and a record
producer with AFO Records, a New Orleans
independent record label.
In May 1992 Kalamu ya Salaam produced
NEW WORLD POETS for the Houston
International Festival in Houston, TX.
The program consisted of three concert
readings of poetry by African American
poets Jayne Cortez, Haki Madhubuti,
Thomas Meloncon; Puerto Rican poet Tato
Laviera, Native American poet Jack
Forbes, Asian American poet Genny Lim,
and Chicana poet Evangelina Vigil-Pinon.
The program was recorded by Mr. Salaam.
In November 1989 Kalamu ya Salaam
produced A NATION OF POETS for the
National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta,
GA. The program was a concert reading of
poetry by Amiri Baraka, Pearl Cleage,
Wanda Coleman, Mari Evans, Haki
Madhubuti, Kalamu ya Salaam, Sonia
Sanchez and Askia Muhammad Toure. The
program was recorded under Mr. Salaam's
direction and videotaped for broadcast
on the Atlanta PBS affiliate. Mr. Salaam
is the producer of A NATION OF POETS
cassette and CD.
Kalamu ya Salaam is a music producer who
has produced festivals and served as a
consulting producer for festivals in
Trinidad, Barbados and many events in
the United States. He served as
associate producer and scriptwriter for
the nationally distributed JAZZTOWN
radio series, a 13 part, one hour each
documentary of jazz in New Orleans.
He produced a nationally broadcast New
Year's eve event for National Public
Radio. He directed a one hour radio
documentary on Blue Lu Barker, a New
Orleans traditional jazz vocalist.
As a music producer Mr. Salaam's
accomplishments include a three volume
record series, The New New Orleans
Music, released on the Rounder Record
label. This series documents the
contemporary jazz scene in New Orleans.
Piano In E -- Solo Piano by Ellis
Marsalis (Rounder Records), The Classic
Ellis Marsalis (AFO Records) and
Germaine Bazzle Standing Ovation (AFO
Records) are a few of Mr. Salaam's
recording productions.
Kalamu ya Salaam has served as a
panelist for arts awards and grants
programs at the local, state, regional
and national level, including four years
on the NEA music panel and one year on
the NEA literature panel. In 1987 he
served as the co-chairman of the
National Endowment for the Arts, Jazz
Presenters panel. He is served as a
field consultant for the National Jazz
Service Organization.
Mr. Salaam served as the Executive
Director of The New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Foundation for four years
(1983-1987). Prior to his tenure at the
NOJ&HF, Mr. Salaam served as the editor
of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine for
thirteen years. Continuing his work in
journalism, Mr. Salaam writes for
numerous publications in the New Orleans
area.
Mr. Salaam's published plays include:
The Destruction of The American Stage in
Black World Magazine, Blk Love Song #1
in Black Theatre USA edited by Hatch &
Shine, The Quest in New Blacks For The
Black Theatre edited by Woodie King,
Jr., plus numerous one-acts published in
small literary journals. A 1987-88
production of Blk Love Song #1 as part
of a double bill produced by Temba
Theatre Company of London, England, won
the Manchester Evening News 1988 Award
for "Best Of Fringe."
Memories won the New Orleans CAC's 1990
regional new play contest, and a
production by Chakula Cha Jua Theatre
was one of only 17 companies invited to
the 1991 biannual National Black Theatre
Festival. Mr. Salaam's musical, God
Bless The Child, was presented at the
1991 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival. His one act play Malcolm, My
Son was selected for The 1st Annual
George Houston Bass Play-Rites Festival
sponsored by Rites & Reason of Brown
University and has been published in the
African American Review.
His play The Breath Of Life was selected
as one of six plays honored by Louisiana
State University in 1993 as part of
their Native Voices fellowships.
Kalamu ya Salaam is the author of seven
books of poetry: The Blues Merchant
(1969), Hofu Ni Kwenu/My Fear Is For You
(1973), Pamoja Tutashinda/Together We
Will Win (1974), Ibura (1976),
Revolutionary Love (1978), Iron Flowers
(1979), A Nation Of Poets (1989).
Mr. Salaam has done numerous pamphlets
on political issues, particularly the
issue of apartheid. Kalamu ya Salaam has
written two children's books, Herufi, An
Alphabet Reader and Who Will Speak For
Us (written in collaboration with Tayari
kwa Salaam).
He has also written two books of essays:
Our Women Keep Our Skies From Falling:
Six Essays In Support Of The Struggle To
Smash Sexist And Develop Women (1980)
and Our Music Is No Accident (1987), an
essay accompanied by 20 duotone
photographs.
Kalamu ya Salaam has widely published in
literary, music and political journals
including Negro Digest/Black World,
First World, The Black Scholar, Black
Books Bulletin, Callaloo, Catalyst, The
Journal Of Black Poetry, Nimrod, Coda
and Encore. His work is included in
numerous anthologies including We Be
Word Sorcerers, New Black Voices, Black
Theatre USA, Erotique Noire / Black
Erotica, Dark Eros, Catch The Fire, and
Spirit And Flame.
Kalamu ya Salaam is a professional
editor whose credits include program
books for the 1992 New Orleans Olympic
Trials, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival; program books for the JVC New
York, Newport, Saratoga, Mellon
Philadelphia, Mellon Pittsburgh, Ohio
Bell and Rochester-Finger Lakes jazz
festivals, and the 1989 Atlanta Jazz
Series; as well as program books for
numerous New Orleans agencies.
Kalamu ya Salaam is the winner of
numerous awards including over six first
places in Unity Awards In The Media, a
George Washington Freedom's Foundation
Award, two ASCAP Deems-Taylor Awards for
excellence in writing about music (1981
& 1989), two NFCB (National Federation
of Community Broadcasters) Silver Reel
Awards for radio production, the 1986
Deep South Writer's Contest Award for
prose, and a first place in the 1990 CAC
Regional (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi) New Play
Competition.
Kalamu ya Salaam has traveled
extensively as a journalist, activist
and arts producer: Ghana, Tanzania and
Zanzibar, Barbados, Brazil, Cuba,
Guadaloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique,
Nicaragua, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad
& Tobago, Korea, Japan, The People's
Republic Of China, England, France and
Germany.
Contact Information: Kalamu ya Salaam
Box 52723 New Orleans, LA 70152-2723
Phone: (504) 581-2963 Fax: (504)
581-5446 email: kalamu@aol.com
Note:
WordBand is a poetry performance
ensemble led by veteran writer Kalamu ya
Salaam. Deeply rooted in the broad
spectrum of Black music, the WordBand's
repertoire includes poetry set to
everything from blues to experimental
new music. The personnel are two poets,
Kalamu ya Salaam and Kysha N. Brown; a
vocalist, Ginger Maria Tanner and a
guitarist, Carl LeBlanc.
"We work out of a jazz aesthetic; so
much of what we di is improvised. We
don't go on stage with a set show.
Instead, we let the selections flow from
the particular feelings where we are
performing and from the audience
reactions. Sometimes we will emphasize
blues numbers; other times we will be
much more experimental. Our approach
keeps the performance fresh--you never
get the feeling of a canned show with
the WordBand," says Kalamu. "WE don't
have horns or drums, we don't have
dancers or a back-up choir. What we
offer is well crafted poetry mated to
the fundamental sounds of great Black
music in an intimate setting."
Kalamu ya Salaam's
Website:
http://www.kalamu.com |
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