Michael Workman

Crowds mill amongst the wooden church pews, the din of voices rising and falling with the excitement of the conversation. The pulpit has been converted into a stage, with tripod-mounted speakers on either side, backdropped by black curtains draped from metal rods. Everybody here's looking and listening, talking. Meeting new people. One scenester hoists a PBR "fan can," another a Heineken mini-keg. What does this congregation sing the praises of at this particular house of worship? Poetry, of course. Or jazz. Take your pick.

At this refurbished old Pentecostal church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, poets read their words and jazz musicians such as Ken Vandermark play the night away. It's an inviting setup, with BYOB encouraged. Even better, admission's free.

The space is run by Elastic Revolution Productions, a group formed by poets Kerri Sonnenberg and Jesse Seldess to provide "recording, rehearsal and performance space" for artists of any stripe. On the night in question, Seldess reads from a rhythmically repetitive group of works, with the crowd perceptibly swaying from alcohol and sleepiness. Dead silence fills the room. After him, Lewis Warsh, an associate professor at Long Island University in Brooklyn, takes the stage to read from his poetry collection "Touch of the Whip." If it's like this every night--and word is, the series never fails to satisfy--then it's a worthy gospel, indeed.

(2004-02-18)

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