Pulitzer Prize-Winner Yusef Komunyakaa & Global Soul Music Creator Tomas Doncker Celebrate 10th Anniversary of THE MERCY SUITE

In late 2007, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa came together with his close friend, no wave guitar hero and Global Soul Music creator Tomás Doncker, to create an original musical masterpiece titled The Mercy Suite. In celebration of the work's 10th Anniversary, La MaMa Experimental Theater Club will present a one-night-only presentation of The Mercy Suite at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 East 4th Street, second floor) on Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 7:00pm.

Featuring a Gorillaz like list of featured artists, including Meshell Ndegeocello, Chocolate Genius, and Living Colour lead singer Corey Glover, The Mercy Suite is one of the most beloved creations in the two artist's careers. Deepening the exquisite and heartfelt devastation of the original with "Black Americana" acoustic revelations on songs as deeply personal and universal as Deja Vu andWhenever I Close My Eyes, as well as the hard hitting wake-up call, Rumors Of War, the time is right to look inwards. Audiences can expect to be rewarded with the artistic perfection of glorious words by Mr. Komunyakaa, brilliantly sung & arranged by Mr. Doncker, and passionately performed by The True Groove Allstars in this10th Anniversary celebration in a time when the world needs mercy more than ever.

Tickets for The Mercy Suite, ranging in price from $20 for students & seniors to $25 for general admission, can be purchased online via Ovation Tix at www.ovationtix.com. For more information about The Mercy Suite please visit http://lamama.org/mercy_suite/

ABOUT La MaMa

La MaMa is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. The organization has a worldwide reputation for producing daring performance works that defy form and transcend barriers of ethnic and cultural identity. Founded in 1961 by award-winning theatre pioneer Ellen Stewart, La MaMa has presented more than 5,000 productions by 150,000 artists from more than 70 nations. A recipient of more than 30 Obie Awards and dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie, and Villager Awards, La MaMa has helped launch the careers of countless artists, many of whom have made important contributions to American and international arts milieus.

La MaMa's 56th season highlights artists of different generations, gender identities, and cultural backgrounds, who question social mores and confront stereotypes, corruption, bigotry, racism, and xenophobia in their work. Our stages embrace diversity in every form and present artists that persevere with bold self-expression despite social, economic, and political struggle and the 56th season reflects the urgency of reaffirming human interconnectedness.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Yusef Komunyakaa's books of poetry include Taboo, Dien Cai Dau, Neon Vernacular (for which he received the Pulitzer Prize), Pleasure Dome, Warhorses, The Chameleon Couch, and most recently The Emperor of Water Clocks (FSG). His awards include the William Faulkner Prize (Université Rennes, France), the Kingsley Tufts Award for Poetry, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Poetry Society of America's Shelley Memorial Award, and the 2011 Wallace Stevens Award. His plays, performance art and libretti have been performed internationally, and include Wakonda's Dream, Saturnalia, and Gilgamesh: a Verse Play. He teaches in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University and serves as State Poet of New York.

Tomas Doncker cut his teeth as a guitarist with such genre-busting groups as James Chance & The Contortions; Defunkt; J. Walter Negro & The Loose Jointz; and many more, making him a prime mover on New York's downtown"No Wave" scene in the early 1980s. Eventually he went international, touring and recording in Japan with jazz pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, and producing studio and songwriting sessions with Bootsy Collins, Yoko Ono, and Grammy-nominated Reggae vocal group The Itals, among others. Since then, Doncker has continued to work with such iconic artists as: Madonna, Ivan Neville; Bonnie Raitt; Meshell Ndegeocello; Corey Glover of Living Colour; former Parliament Funkadelic keyboardist Amp Fiddler; 2013 Grammy award nominee Shamekia Copeland,and Israeli roots-Fusion artist Ravid Kahalani's Yemen Blues.His ongoing collaborations with NYS Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa (the critically acclaimed album "Big Apple Blues" and the highly anticipated 10 Anniversary release of "The Mercy Suite") are celebrated worldwide. Beyond that, he has produced hundreds of records-and is the Founder and CEO of NYC's fastest rising record label, True Groove Records.

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