drive many (US)

Grammy-nominated American poet and self-proclaimed word musician Aja Monet is one of America's most original new names. With vulnerable empathy and a rare sense of tone, rhythm and cadence, she moves melodically and spiritually between words and music, making the traditional intersection between jazz and political poetry searingly topical. Experience a unique and socially conscious voice when aja monte guests ALICE for November with his quartet, album current with “the color of rain”.

“Her words evoke the presence of rain itself: strong enough to change the tides, and gentle enough to relieve weary spirits.” — The Line of Best Fit

Poet, musician and activist Aja Monet was born and raised in Brooklyn as the daughter of Cuban and Jamaican parents. She began writing poems as a child and already at the age of 19 broke through when, in 2007, she became the youngest poet ever to win the title of Grand Slam Champion at the iconic Nuyorican Poets Café in New York. In 2018, she released the dedicated poetry collection “My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter” which the same year was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

With her Grammy-nominated album “when the poems do what they do,” from 2023, Monet made her mark in earnest as a central voice in the meeting of jazz and political lyricism, and her rare ability to let the words flow in and out of the music sends thoughts toward icons like Lonnie Holley, Gil Scott-Heron, Audre Lorde and the poets of the beat generation. On his latest album “the color of rain” aja onet explores a more experimental and genre-breaking musical universe. Jazz, soul, hip hop and rhythm and blues are woven together into a vivid and surreal soundscape that moves between the intimate and the social, between inner reflection and the troubled contemporary we live in. We are proud to present a unique and socially conscious voice when Aja Monet gives a concert at ALICE in November for the first time with her quartet.

Lineup

aja monte: vowel

Brian Hargrove — keys

Dom Sanders — double bass

Brian Collier — drums