John Natsoulas Gallery

"I don't know of anyone else who is doing this level of interdisciplinary collaboration between the visual, musical and literary arts. It's the great work." -Joyce Jenkins, Poetry Flash

"Those for whom the San Francisco Beat phenomenon is merely the stuff of legend can get a taste of the real thing in an all-day conference sponsored by the John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis." -Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle

Experience an intimate two-day festival filled with poetry readings and painting improvisation set to the rhythm of live jazz. Hosted by the John Natsoulas Center for the Arts, this is a unique opportunity for attendees to experience exclusive performances, a thorough collection of Beat art, and later meet firsthand with the world-renowned poets, jazz musicians, and painters of the Beat Generation.

This 6th annual event is the premier collaborative conference in the region, convening on the evening of October 4th and extending the entirety of October 5th. Saturday is free to the public without registration, while Sunday is complimentary with pre-registration on the Natsoulas website. Register early, as seating is limited for this free event.

A concurrent gallery-wide exhibition of Beat art will include paintings from the some of the most intriguing artists of the era. Our two live venues will feature the artists working at a rapid pace in a public venue- a unique and exclusive privilege for the audience. This event will include 150 jazz musicians, 20 diverse visual artists, and acclaimed performers including:

David Amram has composed more than 100 orchestral and chamber music works, written many scores for Broadway theater and film. He is a pioneer player of jazz French horn, a piano virtuoso, and master of more eclectic instruments, as well as an inventive, humorous improvisational lyricist. Currently guest conducting orchestras around the world, Amram creates unique programs combining classical and popular favorites, jazz and world music designed especially for each orchestra's Pops, Young Adult, Family and Children's concerts.

Nancy Ostrovsky was born in North Africa and lived in various countries in Asia, and it is this past that is at the heart of her œuvre. Ostrovsky has been called "one of the pioneers of performance painting." She creates "Paintings to Music" as she shares the stage with a live jazz band. Ostrovsky uses the immediacy of the musicians, the music and environment to interpret the performance in a highly original and innovative context.

Amiri Baraka is renowned as the founder of the Black Arts Movement in Harlem in the 1960s that became the virtual blueprint for new American theater aesthetics. The movement and his published and performance work, such as the signature study on African-American music, Blues People and the play Dutchman practically seeded "the cultural corollary to black nationalism" of the revolutionary American milieu. He is the author of over forty books of essays, poems, drama, and music history and criticism.

Ruth Weiss is one of the original Beat poets in San Francisco in the 50s, and one of the sole living jazz poets. To hear ruth weiss read her poetry in a dimly lit coffeehouse in North Beach is to understand why our fascination with the Beat Generation will never die.

To conclude, our reception will celebrate the performance painters with a display of their paintings of the day, featuring performances by Nancy Ostrovsky, David Amram and Race!!!