A poet laureate, musician and advocate for Native American rights is making a special appearance at the Idyllwild Arts Academy during its annual Native American Arts Festival Week.
Idyllwild Arts—which operates on the land of the Qawishpa Cahuillangnah, also known as the Cahuilla Band of Indians—is hosting the week from Monday, June 16, through Friday, June 20. Activities focused on Native American arts, including a film series, a lecture series, special cuisine and more are set to educate and engage the local community with Native American culture. All of the events are free to attend.
At 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 18, poet, musician and activist Joy Harjo will host a staged reading of We Were There When Jazz Was Invented, a musical Harjo is developing. Jazz trumpeter Delbert Anderson will provide a musical background, while Harjo and other actors read through the work.
“I’ve been working on a musical that will show how Muscogee people are part of the origin story of blues and jazz,” Harjo said during a recent phone interview. “I’ve been working on the play off and on for some time, and I’m in the middle of finishing another revision. I started working on it in probably 2015. … By the time we do our reading, I’ll have another revision.”
Harjo said Julia Keefe, leader of the Indigenous Big Band, will also participate in the reading.
“She’s done a lot to bring forth the work of Mildred Bailey of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, who was a major song and performance influence in jazz back in her day. Julie has done a lot to promote an awareness of her and her music,” Harjo said. “… Julie is going to be the music director, and we’re just going to do a run-through.”
Harjo said some of the musical’s songs will be performed live during the reading, while other musical moments will be “filler songs.”
“I did a one-woman show with music called Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light, but this is very different,” Harjo said. “There’s an ensemble cast for this, and the ensemble cast makes a band that’s always onstage when all these scenes play out.”
Harjo said she’s always valued the often-underappreciated connection between poetry and music.
“I came to poetry through music, through my mom’s songwriting,” Harjo said. “My sister just found some of her lyrics, and I just recorded an album for Smithsonian Folkways. My co-producer was Esperanza Spalding, and one of the songs that will be on the album is a song my mother wrote in the ’50s called ‘My Guy.’ That’s a really cool song. … Now I’ve got to figure out how I can fit it into the musical.”
We Were There When Jazz Was Invented dives deep into the relationship between poetry and music, specifically within the context of Native American history.
“The roots of poetry go back to music, so I see (the musical) as a way to put everything together … to show that we’re part of the origin story, and show really how Muscogee music has all the elements of jazz and blues—while, at the same time, creating new music and honoring different people who have been in that field.”
Harjo said this staged live reading will be truly beneficial for her revision process.
“We’re looking for a producer in order to get to the next stage,” Harjo said. “Readings like this are helpful for the writer to see what works, and see what doesn’t. As a poet and as somebody who writes stories, generally, it’s just you in a room, and with revision, you kind of do it on your own. Because it’s a performance piece, it’s important to be able to perform it, and to see it in motion.”
Harjo has had astounding success as both a writer and a musician. With her writing, she has published numerous books of poetry, won countless awards, and is one of only two people to serve three terms as the United States poet laureate. In the music world, she has released a handful of albums and attracted a completely separate fanbase. No matter the medium, Harjo uses the arts to examine and explore the rich history—and deep oppression—of Native American culture.
“I started my first band, Joy Harjo and Poetic Justice, and I learned to play saxophone onstage with that band,” Harjo said. “My performances evolved from just straight reading to sometimes, I sing. I would lay the performance out in different ways, but it’s evolved to full-on music performance. I used to think that there would be crossover, but I find that the poetry people generally just want the poetry, and I have music fans who, (even though) there’s poetry in it, they know me as a musician.”
The Idyllwild Arts Academy’s Native American Arts Festival Week takes place Monday, June 16, through Friday, June 20. At 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 18, a staged reading of We Were There When Jazz Was Invented will take place at the Bowman IAF Theater, on the Idyllwild Arts campus, at 52500 Temecula Road. No. 38, in Idyllwild. Admission is free. For more information, visit idyllwildarts.org.
