Carl Hancock Rux, (b. March 24th, 1971, Harlem, New York) is an African American poet, playwright, novelist, recording artist, and essayist who crosses and fuses disciplines in his art. His writing and spoken word performances incorporate the rhythyms of rap, slam poetry and the oral traditions of slavery, while being grounded in the classical Western canon. He is the author of the Village Voice Literary prize winning collection of poetry, Pagan Operetta the novel Asphalt and the OBIE award winning play Talk. Rux is also a resident artist at the Miami Performing Arts Center, the Robert E. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College and Head of the Writing for Performance MFA program at California Institute of the Arts. He is a recipient of numerous awards including the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts Prize, and the Bessie Schomburg Award, among others. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 594 pixelsFull resolution (3000 × 2229 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 594 pixelsFull resolution (3000 × 2229 pixel, file size: 3. ... For other uses, see Harlem (disambiguation). ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ... Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York City Slam poetry is a postmodern performance poetry, a form of spoken word performed at a competitive poetry event, called a slam, at which poets perform their own poems (or, in rare cases, those of others) that are judged on a numeric scale by randomly... Entrance to CalArts on McBean Parkway The California Institute of the Arts is commonly referred to as CalArts. ... Herbert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician most associated with the Tijuana Brass, a now-defunct brass band of which he was the leader. ...

Bio

Born Carl Stephen Hancock in Harlem, New York, Carl Hancock Rux's biological mother was institutionalized for schizophrenia while he was still an infant. After his grandmother died when he was four, he and his brothers would grow up separately in foster homes. He was eventually adopted by his maternal uncle and aunt, who legally added Rux (of German/French Huguenot derivation) to his name. A graduate of the LaGuardia High School (where he studied both visual art and voice), and an alumni of Columbia University, Carl Hancock Rux began his career as a playwright with Song of Sad Young Men, produced off-Broadway in 1990 at the Producer's Club Theater, directed by Tony© award winning actress Trazana Beverly and starring actor Isaiah Washington (ABC's Grey's Anatomy). The play, a social commentary on the effect of AIDS and homelessness on the African American community, was written in response to Rux's older brother's death from AIDS in 1989. Carl Hancock Rux is among several poets and spoken word artists to emerge in the early 90s from the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe on New York's Lower East (Paul Beatty, Tracie Morris, Dael Orlandersmith, Willie Perdomo, Kevin Powell, Maggie Estep, Reg E. Gaines, Edwin Torres, Saul Williams, Tish Benson). In 1994, after the release of the anthology, Voices From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Rux was selected by the New York Times Magazine as One of Thirty Artists Under The Age Of Thirty Most Likely to Influence Culture Over The Next Thirty Years(others included Academy Award winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Pulitzer prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, choreographer Ron Brown, rapper Nas, singer Audra McDonald,pop music DJ Moby, and theater composer Adam Guettel. In 1998, upon the publication of his first book of poetry, Pagan Operetta, he received the Village Voice Literary prize and was featured on the weekly's cover story; Eight Writers on the Verge of (Impacting) the Literary Landscape. In 2004, upon publication of his first novel, Asphalt, Rux was featured on the cover of the New York Times magazine.is a recipient of the Village Voice Literary Prize, Fresh Poet Award, National Endowment for the Arts/Theater Communication Group Playwright in Residence fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts Gregory Millard fellowship, NYFA Prize, Herb Alpert Award in the Arts (CalArts), Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) 10 Arts & Artists in Progress Award. He is the subject of the Voices of America television documentary, "Carl Hancock Rux, Coming of Age", (Larry Clamage/Richard Maniscalo producers) was the recipient of the CINE Golden Eagle Award. A frequent radio essayist and guest host ( xm radio's The Bob Edwards Show; WNYC "Soundcheck") Rux co-wrote and narrated the radio documentary, "Walt Whitman; Songs of Myself" (Elena Park/Curtis Fox producers), awarded the 2006 New York Press Club Journalism Award for Entertainment News. The Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art is located near the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Square district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue between 65th Street and 64th Street. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States. ... Isaiah Washington IV (born August 3, 1963) is an American actor. ... Greys Anatomy is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American primetime television medical drama. ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ... Paul Beatty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Dael Orlandersmith is an actress, poet and playwright that is best known for her Obie Award winning Beautys Daughter and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama, Yellowman. ... Kevin Powell (1966-) is an African-American journalist, activist and lecturer. ... Maggie Estep is an American poet and writer. ... Edwin Torres can be one of either two persons that share the same name: 1. ... Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) has been considered a powerful voice of the hip hop generation as a poet, preacher, actor, rapper, singer, and musician. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Suzan-Lori Parks (1964 - ) is an African-American playwright and novelist. ... Nasir Jones (born September 13, 1973), known simply as Nas, formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper. ... Audra McDonald Audra McDonald is an American singer and four-time Tony Award-winning actress. ... Moby (born Richard Melville Hall on September 11, 1965, in Harlem, New York, and raised in Darien, Connecticut) is an American songwriter, musician and singer. ... Adam Guettel (pronounced Gettle; b. ... Herbert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician most associated with the Tijuana Brass, a now-defunct brass band of which he was the leader. ...

Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (820x615, 79 KB)[edit] Summary The author of this photo is me, David Shankbone. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (820x615, 79 KB)[edit] Summary The author of this photo is me, David Shankbone. ...

Published Works

Pagan Operetta (poetry) Autonmedia Press Pagan Operetta (1998) is a collection of poetry and experimental prose by Carl Hancock Rux, loosely inspired by Homers Odyssey. ...

Talk (play) TCG Press

Asphalt (novel) Atria/Simon & Schuster,

Everything But the Burden; What White People Are Taking from Black Culture by Greg Tate (Editor) Broadway Books/Random House

DeCapo's Best Music Writing 2004 (essays) DeCapo Press

Aloud; Voices From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (poetry) by "Miguel Algarin", "Bob Holman" (Editors) Henry Holt

Soul's Survival; Black Power, Politics and Pleasure (essays) by Green & Guillory (Editors) NYU Press.

Korper Lust Sprache (poetry) Literatur zur Zeit Konzepte Press/ Berlin, Germany,

Action! Nuyorican Theater Festival Anthology (drama) by Miguel Algarin, Lois Griffith (Editors) Touchstone/Simon & Schuster,

Listen Up! Spoken Word Poetry (poetry) by Zoe Anglesey (Editor)World / Ballantine

Go The Way Your Blood Beats; African American fiction by Sean Stewart Ruff (Editor) Henry Holt

Open City 13 by Thomas Beller (Editor),

NKA Literary Journal by Okwi Enwezor (Editor) Cornell University Press

Poetry On Stage by Danne Hughes (Editor) Poho Press

Fire & Spirit: African American Poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller (Editor) Syracuse University Press

Beyond The Frontier Black Classic Press

Heights Of The Marvelous St. Martin's Pres

Def Jam Poetry by Louis Reyes Rivera, Tony Medina (Editors) St. Martin's Press

Bum Rush The Page Three River Press

Discography

Discovered performing in the mid 90s at CBGB's by Disco/New Wave diva Nona Hendryx (formerly of "Labelle"), Rux signed on to Hendryx's burgeoning independent record label/management company, Free Records. Hendryx assembled Rux's initial band which included guitarist Ronnie Drayton. His first album, produced by Hendryx, underscored Rux's deep baritone half spoken/half singing vocals with a live band 70s soul sound. When Hendryx's label failed to get major label distribution, Rux was signed by Sony/550 after its president, Polly Anthony, caught Rux and his band in performance at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the East Village. Sony flew Rux out to Los Angeles to soak up the West Coast beat turntablist/indie/experimental rock scene. To create his sound, they hired record producers The Dust Brothers (Beck/the Beastie Boys) and Tom Rothrock & Rob Schnapf (producers of Beck's first albums, "Loser" and "Mellow Gold" and Elliot Smith's "Either/Or", "XO" as well as his final album "From A Basement On The Hill"). One track, "Blue Candy" was the result of a jam session at Westlake studios with studio session legends Wah-Wah Watson, Carol Kaye and James Gattson. Rux's first (commercially released) cd, "Rux Revue" was released in the fall of 1999. His second album, Apothecary Rx, on Giant Step, was a heavily textured sound-scape with lush harmonies and hardcore beats, produced by Rux himself in collaboration with Stewart Lerman and Rob Hyman (who penned "Time after Time" and is formerly of the Hooters). The cd also featured avant-garde jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins, Brazilian guitarist Venecia Cantura and singer/songwriter Mark Anthony Thompson. Rux has collaborated on subsequent cd's with DJ Spooky, David Holmes, Danny Heifetz, Vernon Reid, Mark Anthony Thompson (of Chocolate Genius), and Geoff Barrow (of Portishead) and recorded four CDs: The Dust Brothers are the Los Angeles-based producers E.Z. Mike (Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo (John King), famous for their creation of sample-based music in the 1980s, and specifically for their work on the groundbreaking albums Pauls Boutique by the Beastie Boys and Odelay by Beck. ... Beck Hansen (born Bek David Campbell, July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, known by his simple stage name of Beck. ... The Beastie Boys are a group from the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. ... Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. ... Elliott Smith (August 6, 1969 - October 21, 2003) was an American songwriter and musician from Portland, Oregon who rose to prominence when his song Miss Misery from the Good Will Hunting soundtrack was nominated for an Oscar in the best original song category in 1998. ... DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid (born Paul D. Miller, 1970), is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called illbient or trip hop. He is a turntablist and producer. ... David Holmes may refer to: David Holmes, territorial and state governor of Mississippi, U.S. Representative and Senator. ... Danny Heifetz (circa 1998) Danny Heifetz (born 1964 in NYC) is an American musician now living in Sydney, Australia. ... Vernon Reid (born August 22, 1958) is a guitar player, perhaps best known as the founder and primary songwriter of hard rock group Living Colour. ... Geoff Barrow (born 9 December 1971 in Avon, England) is the producer/instrumentalist for the band Portishead. ...

Cornbread, Cognac, Collard Green Revolution (Free Records/unreleased) produced by Nona Hendryx and Mark Batson, featuring bassist Lonnie Plaxico,guitarist Ronnie Drayton, and trombonist Craig Harris. Nona Hendryx (born October 9, 1944) is a vocalist known for her work as a solo artist as well as one-third of the trio LaBelle. ... Lonnie Plaxico Lonnie Plaxico (b. ... Craig S. Harris (born 1953) is a Jazz trombonist and composer who has been a major figure in the jazz avant-garde movement since his stint with Sun Ra in 1976. ...

Rux Revue

(Sony/Epic), produced by the Dust Brothers,Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, featuring drummers Joey Waronker (formerly of REM), and keyboardists Atom Ellis and James Hall. Voted one of the top ten alternative music CDs of 1998 (New York Times/Year in Music) The Dust Brothers are the Los Angeles-based producers E.Z. Mike (Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo (John King), famous for their creation of sample-based music in the 1980s, and specifically for their work on the groundbreaking albums Pauls Boutique by the Beastie Boys and Odelay by Beck. ... Tom Rothrock is an American record producer and musician. ... Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. ... Joey Waronker (born, May 21, 1969) is an American drummer most notable for his work with Beck, but was also a session drummer on The Smashing Pumpkins album Adore and toured with R.E.M. between 1998 and 2002 (appearing on two albums in the process) after the departure of... R.E.M. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in early 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and vocalist Michael Stipe. ... Atom Ellis (circa 1998) Atom Ellis (born 1966) is an American electric bassist currently residing in San Francisco, California. ... There have been several well-known people named James Hall, including: Sir James Hall, Scots geologist and geophysicist (1761 - 1832). ...

Apothecary Rx (Giant Step), Co-produced by Carl Hancock Rux and Stewart Lerman with Rob Hyman (formerly of the Hooters). Features experimental jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins,and Brazilian percussionist Venecius Cantuera This article contains information on the musician Leroy Jenkins. ...

Good Bread Alley Good Bread Alley was the name of a street in the Overtown section of Miami that fell to ruins after the construction of a nearby highway. ...

(Thirsty Ear Records) Produced by Carl Hancock Rux, mixed by Peter Gordon, Dave Darlington, C. H. Rux, music by C. H. Rux, Jaco van Schalkwyck, David Holmes, Vernon Reid, Leroy Jenkins, Venecius Cantuera, Bill Withers Vernon Reid (born August 22, 1958) is a guitar player, perhaps best known as the founder and primary songwriter of hard rock group Living Colour. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Plays, Performance Works

As a writer and frequent guest performer in dance, his collaborators have included Marlies Yearby, the Urban Bush Women, Jane Comfort, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Rux received a BESSIE© award for his direction of the Lisa Jones/Alva Rogers dance musical, Stained (1994). As an actor, Rux originated the title role in the Robert Wilson/Bernice Johnson Reagon folk opera production of The Temptation of St. Anthony, based on the Gustave Flaubert novel written in 1874. The production debuted in Germany in June, 2003 as part of the RuhrTriennale festival in Duisburg Germany and was subsequently performed in Spain, France and England that summer, touring over the next three years throughout Italy, Holland and Spain. Its New York premiere was produced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of the Next Wave Festival. The company became the first African American ensemble to perform at the Paris Opera (Garnier). Plays include: Bill T. Jones is an American artistic director, choreographer and dancer. ... Alvin Ailey, Jr. ... Robert Wilson (born 4 October 1941) is an internationally acclaimed American avant-garde stage director and playwright who has been called [America]s — or even the worlds — foremost vanguard theater artist [1]. Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter... Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon (born October 4, 1942) is a singer, composer, scholar, and social activist, who founded the a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1973. ... The Temptation of St. ... Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) [] was a French novelist who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. ... Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance. ... Exterior of the Palais Garnier. ...

Song of Sad Young Men,Trazana Beverly dir.(featuring Isiah Washington) Isaiah Washington IV (born August 3, 1963) is an American actor. ...

Chapter & Verse

Seeds, Kevin Iega Jeff,choreographer

Geneva Cottrell, Waiting for the Dog to Die, Laurie Carlos dir.

Singing In the Womb of Angels

Who Dat Who Killed Better Dayz Jones? (featuring Sonia Sohn,Regie Cabico)

The No Black Male Show

Fast Forward Dreaming In a Two Step, Marlies Yearby dir/choreographer

Kick The Boot, Raise the Dust An' Fly (A Recipe for Buckin'), Marlies Yearby dir/choreographer text co-written by Sekou Sundiata, Laurie Carlos, Craig Harris composer Sekou Sundiata is an African-American poet and performer. ... Craig S. Harris (born 1953) is a Jazz trombonist and composer who has been a major figure in the jazz avant-garde movement since his stint with Sun Ra in 1976. ...

Totin' Business & Carryin' Bones, Marlies Yearby, dir/choreographer

Yanga, Anita Gonzalez dir/choreographer

Asphalt, Jane Comfort dir/choregrapher/ Toshi Reagon, composer

Talk Marion McClinton dir. (featuring Anthony Mackie) Anthony Mackie (born September 23, 1979 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American actor. ...

Mycenaean

The Blackamoor Angel Karin Coonrod, dir/Deirdre Murray, composer

Macandal Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer/Edouard Duval Carrie, art design

Bibliography

Total Chaos: The Art And Aesthetics of Hip-hop, Jeff Chang (Editor) Basic Civitas Books

Rhythm Science by Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid (Mediaworks Pamphlets)

In a Word : An Article from: Stage Directions by Stephen Peithman (Digital)

All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop by Vladimir Bogdanov (Editor)

To Make Our World Anew : A History of African Americans by Robin D. G. Kelley

Brave New Bass: Interviews and Lessons with the Innovators, Trendsetters and Visionaries by Chris Jisi (Editor)

A Companion To Twentieth-Century American Drama (Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture) by David Krasner (Editor)

Hip: The History by John Leland (Ecco Press)

Black Men: In Their Own Words by "Susan L. Taylor" (Contributor), Patricia Mignon Hinds (Editor)

Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Manhattan by Aaron Zwas, Kristen Couse

Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s by Robert Christgau (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Your Negro Tour Guide : Truths in Black and White by "Kathy Y. Wilson" (mmis Books)

The African American Writer's Handbook: How to Get in Print and Stay in Print by Robert Fleming One World/Ballantine

Dramatists Sourcebook 2002-03 Edition: Complete Opportunities for Playwrights, Translators, Composers, Lyricists and Librettists by Kathy Sova (Editor), (TCG Press)

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz by Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler (Oxford University Press)

In Their Company: Portraits of American Playwrights by Victor Wishna/Ken Collins (Photography)

External link

• Official Website