Joy Harjo – Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace

Description

Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace, her debut for Smithsonian Folkways, draws on the long-intertwined rhythms of jazz and poetry, the power of improvisation and self-expression through sound, and the vitality of Native culture and spirituality to spark a chain of vibrational energy to engulf the whole world. Harjo’s voice is bold and direct, supported producer and bass player esperanza spalding, covering a repertoire that includes a jazz standard, a song written by Harjo’s mother and uncovered by her sister, and many originals that speak to contemporary issues and her life as one of the most celebrated American poets of the last century.
* Joy Harjo has published eleven acclaimed books of poetry and served three terms as the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2019-2022.
* “Joy Harjo combines the wisdom that was here long before Europeans showed up with the challenges of a woman’s life in the present. The result is inspired by the past and a personal preparation for the future.” –Gloria Steinem
* “Since she published her debut collection, in 1975, she has produced eight books of poetry, a memoir, and children’s books; received just about every prominent poetry award that the literary world can offer; and embraced the universal in her work without being burdened by it. She has made each of her stories–even ones that predate her, or dwarf her in scale–in some way part of her own story of survival.” – The New Yorker
* “Joy Harjo is more than a poet, painter, and musician; she is a spiritual being aware of the meaning of everything we see as well as the things around us that are usually invisible.” – NPR