Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble amplifies spoken word in an evening curated by Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani. Four spoken word poets and six composers take flight in new pieces for PJCE's twelve-piece jazz band. Performing together, the poets and musicians explore many facets of the human experience: Can music resist the violence of society? Can we transcend the boundaries to togetherness? How do we reunite with our inner child? Where do we find solace for our sorrow?

Mojgani will perform with new works by Cyrus Nabipoor, Jessika Smith, and Noah Simpson. Other creative teams include Thick in the Throat Honey, the sound poetry performance duo of Arab American poet and essayist Claudia F. Saleeby Savage and multi-instrumentalist and composer John C. Savage; musician Bryan Smith and writer Matt Spohn, friends since childhood; and hip hop artist David Barber with third-generation musician and trombonist/composer James Powers.

Learn more about this event and buy tickets at PJCE's website.