Jesse Goodman and Peter Hale will introduce The Fall of America, two albums of compositions based on Ginsberg readings by artists including Scanner, Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo, Angelique Kidjo, Bill Frisell and Devandra Bernhardt followed by screenings of selected videos from the project Youth, and special guests TBC, will perform a set drawn from the Iron Horse project with video interventions by Antonio Pagano
Doors: 7pm
Tickets: £12 [£10 concessions]
The Ginsberg In London exhibition and events programme is proudly supported by The Wire magazine.
Music featured prominently in Ginsberg’s work - both in his self-accompanied performances and live collaborations with artists including Dylan, Paul McCartney and Patti Smith - and in the inspiration it has had on the wide range of musicians who have set it to music.
Musician and producer Youth joins writers Miles and Pat Thomas in conversation on Ginsberg as musician and muse. The evening will mark the release of Youth’s latest project which takes the poem Iron Horse as the inspiration for an album and book created around Ginsberg’s work (Cadiz Records).
Jesse Goodman and Peter Hale will introduce The Fall of America, two albums of compositions based on Ginsberg readings by artists including Scanner, Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo, Angelique Kidjo, Bill Frisell and Devandra Bernhardt followed by screening of selected videos from the project
Youth, and special guests TBC, will perform a set drawn from the Iron Horse project.
Miles is an English author widely known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of London counterculture. He is the author of over seventy books and his work has regularly appeared in many newspapers, magazines and journals. In the 1960s, he was co-owner of the Indica Book Shop and Gallery where Lennon met Yoko and helped start the independent newspaper International Times. A lifelong friend of Ginsberg, he wrote the first major biography of the poet - along with books on William Burroughs, The Beat Hotel, Charles Bukowksi, The Beatles, Paul McCartney and David Bowie amongst many others.
Pat Thomas is a San Francisco-based music producer, journalist and author of Material Wealth - Mining the Personal Archive of Allen Ginsberg. His previous book was Listen, Whitey: The Sights and Sounds of Black Power centering on the Black Panther Party with a concurrently released CD and double LP recording of speeches and protest songs. Pat is the compiler of reissues of many artists including albums by Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and Television.
Youth (Martin Glover) is an award-winning British record producer and musician. He was a founding member and bassist of the rock band Killing Joke and is a member of The Fireman with Paul McCartney. He has produced, collaborated and performed with a huge range of artists including Kate Bush, Crowded House, The Orb, KLF, The Verve, Guns ’n’ Roses and Primal Scream amongst many others and is credited with founding the first psychedelic trance record label, Dragonfly Records. Deeply influenced by working with countercultural themes, his latest project, Iron Horse, a book and an album, is inspired by Ginsberg's poetry.
Peter Hale is the executor of the Ginsberg Estate. He grew up in Italy, Germany, and then Boulder, Colorado, where he earned a BA in Classics, Greek & Latin, from the University of Colorado, all the while attending classes in music, poetry and meditation at Naropa Institute where he met Allen in 1985 (and took ecstasy with him shortly afterwards) before becoming part of the staff at the Ginsberg office in 1992. On Allen’s death in 1997, he became the mainstay of the organization. A long-time practicing Buddhist, he is also an accomplished musician and DJ and most recently was co-producer with Jesse Goodman of two Allen Ginsberg tribute albums – The Fall of America Vol I & II
Jesse Goodman is a long time associate of the Allen Ginsberg Estate. As co-producer, alongside Peter Hale, he curated The Fall of America Vol I & II, benefiting Headcount and Pen America. These albums showcase a diverse array of artists musically interpreting Ginsberg's poetry, including Philip Glass, Andrew Bird, Angélique Kidjo and Ai Weiwei. Beyond his work with the Allen Ginsberg Estate, Jesse was a board member for the Henry Miller Library, curating their annual benefit concert with performances Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Marianne Faithfull and many more. Jesse serves on the board of advisors for the humanitarian nonprofit OBON Society and his work bridges the worlds of arts, philanthropy, and technology.
Antonio Pagano is a video performance artist and chronicler of the underground electronic music scene from Naples to London. His work explores moving images and video performing arts. He documented the evolution of psychedelic trance music culture, raves, warehouse parties, free festival and has toured internationally and with artists including System 7, Gaudi, Youth, Raz Mesinai, Underground Resistance and Four Tet. Among his recent works are content creation for Charlotte DE Witte and videos for tracks on Allen Ginsberg’s The Fall of America Vol II: A 50th Anniversary Musical Tribute