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Heroes Are Gang Leaders

Winners of the 2018 American Book Award for Oral Literature

The fertile, imaginative, sensuous unity of poetry and music embodied by Heroes Are Gang Leaders harvests the great traditions of Afro-American culture. From the bountiful gardens of past masters to the most innovative and exciting contemporary writers, HAGL has opened new horizons for audiences internationally, gathering the forces of rhythm and sound. Drawing from the resources of often hidden and suppressed histories, HAGL resuscitates and revives images of our world that are colorful, vibrant, and spiritual. Fearless, adventurous, and without compromise, HAGL has evolved new trajectories for artists of the future to explore. If as James Blood Ulmer has said, Jazz is the teacher, and funk is the preacher, then HAGL is the divinity school offering a new theology of spirit into matter. The cross-pollination of poetry and music find their magical, ritual significance in the art of HAGL, a boundless, joyful rediscovery of our souls. Weaving a vision at once unique and uncannily familiar, HAGL has found purpose in animating both the shadows and the light of our 21st century. Collected on the albums The Avant-Age Garde I AMs of the Gal Luxury, Highest Engines Near/Near Higher Engineers, and most recently Flukum, the recordings of HAGL betray a profoundly propulsive, forward-leaning momentum. Shattering expectations and succeeding to the wildest dreams, HAGL has perfected the mysterious genre of Jazz Poetry with love, care, gentleness, and strength.

Featuring: Thomas Sayers Ellis / James Brandon Lewis / Melanie Dyer / Randall Horton / Luke Stewart / Jenna Camille / Heru Shabaka-ra / Nettie Chickering / Devin Brahja Waldman / Warren "Trae" Crudup / Brandon Moses / Bonita Lee Penn