Anthony Bansfield has always been a music lover.
You'll hear music on his latest CD, Tales of the North
Coast. But he recalls an experience that led him down his own
unique, expressive path.
"A friend of mine came back
from New York, where his brother was going to school," he
says, "and he brought a record with him."
The record
was the groundbreaking Rapper's Delight by The SugarHill Gang.
And it set young Anthony to musing on the qualities of rhyme.
"You know, as a kid you have nursery rhymes," he
explains. "Rhymes are fun and stick in your head. I always
liked that. So I started to write my own little rhymes."
Bansfield would draw inspiration from the wordplay of
dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, as well as Bob Marley, Lillian
Allen, Clifton Joseph and Tom Waits. His first performances
came at the University of Ottawa, but he would gain confidence
while living first in Montreal, and later Toronto. By the time
Bansfield -- now calling himself the nth digri -- returned to
Ottawa, he truly had a way with words.
"Having
something to say and saying it in a way that's dynamic --
that's what a performance poet tries to do," Bansfield says.
"Even if you're not following the words, you enjoy the style.
And that draws you into what they're saying to you."
Bansfield should know. As a founder of the Golden Star
Lounge collective, he organizes a monthly spoken-word night --
complete with open mic and slam segments. Generally, the
events take place on the last Friday of each month at the
African Palace restaurant on Rideau St.
But this week
is special.
This Sunday, urban spoken-word artists
from across Canada will gather for a true poetic first at La
Isla on George St. The best wordsmiths from Toronto, Montreal
and Halifax will join Bansfield for a night of inspired
rhythmic verse that will range from the erotic to the
vitriolic to the comedic. It's been in the works for some
time, and Bansfield believes it is only the beginning for a
city that has shown admirable support for urban poetry events.
"I think we're going to see more of this," he
enthuses. "I think we're going to see this genre come to be
not so much a novelty genre, but establish itself as a
recognizable and popular genre that people can come out and
enjoy.
"The Junos won't give an award for it. Fine,
it's not exactly music, I can understand that. The Urban Music
Awards do. They have a best spoken-word recording award. (In
fact, Bansfield is nominated for that very award.)
"You have an upper echelon -- the Writers Festival and
such -- but we practice literature too. We're spoken word
poets: We're a bit of music; we're a bit of literature. And I
feel we should get recognition in both areas. In fact, I don't
even demand recognition or money or anything. Just let us come
and do our thing too."
Bansfield and a field of talent
will be doing their thing Sunday. And he promises all who
enjoy "turning over something in their heads" will take
something of value away from the night. Something distinctly
Canadian. And urban.
"Some people see 'urban' as a
euphemism for black music," Bansfield concedes, "but I see it
differently. You can say it was black music, originally, but
it's evolved. And I see this the same way.
"It tends
to come from and appeal to a younger generation, it's got a
little movement in it, it's got something of a 'coolness' to
it. It represents something energetic and dynamic, and it
tends to be demographically underrepresented, as far as access
to power. Which I think lends to the grassroots aspect of it."
And that sentiment figures into Bansfield's memorable
spoken-word piece, Black Hockey Player.
"Canada's
changing," Bansfield muses. "When you've got a guy like Anson
Carter scoring the winning goal in the world junior hockey
championships, or Jerome Iginla in the Olympics ... it shows
the change that's happening in Canada. As another generation
comes up we're seeing a lot of these big news issues --
marijuana, same-sex marriage ...
"That may be why this
kind of poem is powerful to people, it brings together the
perspective of somebody who's distinctly Canadian, as in
played road hockey as a kid, and yet distinctly non-Canadian
in the sense that they don't look what the typical person
would expect Canadians to look like."
Or sound like.
But that can change.
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