CLASSIFICATION
Swallow ID:
6881
Partner Institution:
Concordia University
Source Collection Label:
Lee Gotham collection
Series:
Lee Gotham collection
Sub Series:
Lee Gotham collection
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Title:
Enough Said 1995-04-03, Smith
Title Source:
Asset
Title Note:
Ephemera accompanying assets, corroborated by Lee Gotham, who introduces the event headliner.
Language:
English
Production Context:
Documentary recording
Genre:
Performance: Spoken Word Poetry
Identifiers:
[]
Rights
Notes:
Rights status in process. We may wish to seek permission from individual artists and Drew Duncan, the videographer.
CREATORS
Name:
Gotham, Lee
Dates:
1962-
Role:
"Series organizer",
"Producer"
Notes:
Lee Gotham was also one of the MCs of this event.
Name:
Smith, Dee
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Event headliner. Note the headliner was the second act of the night, though it appears first in the recording, which was copied to the VHS tape in such sequence.
CONTRIBUTORS
Name:
Duncan, Drew
Role:
"Recordist"
Notes:
Videographer.
Name:
Crysler, Julie
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Opening act. Note that, though this performer opened for the event headliner, it appears after the headliner on the VHS tape, which was copied in such order.
Name:
De Paul, Joe
Role:
"Storyteller"
Notes:
Opening act. Note that, though this performer opened for the event headliner, it appears after the headliner on the VHS tape, which was copied in such order.
Name:
Bill?
Role:
"Performer"
Notes:
Open-mic performer.
MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
Image:
Recording Type:
Analogue
AV Type:
Video
Material Designation:
VHS
Physical Composition:
Magnetic Tape
Storage Capacity:
120 minutes
Playback Mode:
Mono
Tape Brand:
TDK EHG
Sound Quality:
Good
Other Physical Description:
VHS #4 asset. Contains recordings of multiple events.
Other:
Note the event was copied to the VHS tape not in chronological order (act 2, act 1, act 3).
DIGITAL FILE DESCRIPTION
Duration:
01:13:04
Size:
2.06 GB on disk
Bitrate:
2304Kbps (original); 256Kbps (master)
Encoding:
MPEG-4 movie
Content:
This is file 1 of 1 containing an AV recording of the event featuring Dee Smith as part of the Enough Said series, organized by Lee Gotham, with extra performances by Julie Crysler and Joe De Paul.
Notes:
Dimensions: 640 × 480. Note the event was copied to the VHS tape not in chronological order, and the digitized file preserves such sequence: act 2 (event headliner); act 1 (opening acts); act 3 (open-mic).
Content Type:
Video Recording
Dates
Date:
1995-04-03
Type:
Performance Date
Source:
Asset
LOCATION
Address:
4040 St. Laurent, Montréal, QC, H2W 1Y8, Canada
Venue:
Bistro 4
Latitude:
45.5169628
Longitude:
-73.5796147
Notes:
Bistro 4 (pronounced Bistro Quatre), no longer in existence.
CONTENT
Contents:
[Bistro 4 stage]
00:00:00
Video Description: Colour video, medium shot of the stage at Bistro 4 (Quatre) (4040 St. Laurent, Montréal, QC, H2W 1Y8, Canada). A single mic stand. The stage, slightly below street level, is set against a full-wall window looking out onto the St. Laurent Blvd. traffic—with both pedestrians and vehicles regularly passing by. The windows from across the street are also visible, including an outdoor “JETHRO” sign. People frequently pass in front of the camera. On the café windows, some decals are partially visible, with words from the menu such as “DÉJEUNER,” “CAPPUCCINO,” and “TISANE.”
Lee Gotham
00:00:03
Ok. I have to apologize, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much trouble with the cassette deck (?). Wasn’t much on the way of a half-time entertainment. But, with a second-act like I have this evening for us, I’ll cut the apology short because I know the wait is gonna be worth the while. And, I’d just like to introduce anyone in the room unfamiliar with Dee Smith to herself and her work, a wonderful emerging of dub poetry and the versifying of her own make (sic). Please join me in welcoming Dee Smith to the microphone. [Applause.] | Video Description: Diagonal angle of the stage, capturing the performer from their right side. Medium shot of Lee Gotham walking on stage and adjusting the mic. Gotham wears an open sweater with abstract details atop a v-neck t-shirt; full beard, long hair tied in a bun. Different degrees of zoom as Gotham introduces Dee Smith as the second act of the evening. Note the event was copied to the VHS tape not in chronological order, and the digitized file preserves such sequence: act 2 (event headliner); act 1 (opening acts); act 3 (open-mic).
Dee Smith
00:01:03
[Thanks the audience for waiting. Says she’ll read a couple of pieces, some of them in “Jamaican Dialect” (Jamaican Patois), others in standard English. Asks the audience if they’d like her to start with something nice and sweet or some real radical stuff. Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Dee Smith enters stage and Lee Gotham adjusts the mic. Smith wears a green short-sleeve shirt atop a black long-sleeve turtleneck, black Breton cap, pendant necklace, flower earrings, stud nose ring, plus several finger rings.
Dee Smith
00:02:15
[Invites the audience to snap their fingers or tap their toes, then demonstrates the rhythm they should keep while she performs. Performs a piece opening with the line, “What da hell, what da hell, what a situation.” Applause. Smith explains the title is “Shituation Critical” (sic).] | Video Description: Medium closeup of Dee Smith snapping fingers to demonstrate to the audience the rhythm they should keep while she performs. Performs a piece. At the end of the piece, zoom into a closeup as Smith makes remarks.
Dee Smith
00:04:30
[Introduces the next piece as dedicated to “some sisters” Dee Smith used to work with and some of which “didn’t have a strong sense of self, of who they were.” Performs piece titled “As Nubian as.” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:06:00
So, this one is a little riddle. At the end of it, you tell me what you think it’s all about, and that’s the title of it. [Performs riddle piece. Applause. Remarks on the piece.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Dee Smith introducing a piece, then medium closeup as Smith performs it. At the end, closeup as Smith comments on the piece.
Dee Smith
00:07:27
[Introduces and performs “a funny little piece” about hair. Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup then extreme closeup as Dee Smith introduces and performs a piece.
Dee Smith
00:08:45
[Introduces and performs a political piece about, in Smith’s words, “some of the things I’ve seen some of my Black sisters going through.” Smith alternates between Jamaican Patois and standard English. Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:11:27
[Introduces a piece saying “some people might think this is about smoking, but there’s a hidden message in it somewhere.” Performs piece titled “Herbs: Ganja, Marijuana, (Cannabis?).” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:13:22
The next piece is a two-part piece; and it was written after the last craziness that took place at Carifiesta, you know, the holiday when Black people get in the streets and get all crazy. Well, I was rather upset the last time something like this happened. [Performs “Carifiesta daytime” (Part 1) and then “Carifiesta nighttime” (Part 2).] | Video Description: Closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:15:20
[Introduces and performs “Declare war,” primarily in Jamaican Patois. Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:17:45
[Introduces and performs “Reality.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:19:18
[Introduces and performs “Cool but deadly.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:20:57
[Introduces and performs “Some kind of love thing” as a love piece. Minute-long silence between introduction and performance, as Smith looks for the piece among papers. Applause.] | Video Description: Various degrees of closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:25:10
[Introduces and performs another love piece opening with the line “Come away with me, beautiful lover.” Applause.] | Video Description: Various degrees of closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:27:35
[Introduces and performs a piece beginning with the line “Brother to brother” repeated several times. Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:29:26
[Introduces and performs a piece about procrastination. Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Dee Smith performing a piece.
Dee Smith
00:30:50
[Introduces and performs a piece “for all the women in the house tonight,” opening with, “If I said I didn’t like the politics.” Applause. Thanks the audience.] | Video Description: Various degrees of closeup of Dee Smith performing a last piece.
Lee Gotham
00:33:08
[Thanks Dee Smith and announces a break. Sudden cut.] | Video Description: Various degrees of closeup as Lee Gotham walks to stage and makes remarks. Video suddenly cuts.
Lee Gotham
00:34:08
[Cut to Lee Gotham announcing the lineup of the evening, then calling Julie Crysler, the first performer, to the stage.] Video Description: Cut to an extreme closeup of Lee Gotham making introductory announcements while smoking a cigarette. Note that, though the opening acts performed before the headliner, they were copied to the tape after Dee Smith’s performance.
Julie Crysler
00:34:30
[Introduces and performs “A Prayer for Agnostic Artists.” Applause.] | Video Description: Various degrees of closeup of Julie Crysler performing a piece. Black cardigan, red hair with a bob, sun-shaped pendant, bracelet, and wristwatch.
Julie Crysler
00:37:10
[Introduces and performs a piece titled “Diane,” about a Polish-American poet from San Francisco who was a big inspiration for Crysler. Applause.] | Video Description: Various degrees of closeup of Julie Crysler performing a piece.
Julie Crysler
00:38:13
[Introduces and performs a piece opening with the line “Crazy-Manhattan-graffiti city,” stating it was written on the plane coming back from a visit to New York. Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Julie Crysler performing a piece.
Julie Crysler
00:40:03
[Introduces the next piece by saying she grew up in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto, and stating “there are only small pockets of anything that’s somewhat beautiful.” An audience member twice shouts: “The Bluffs!” To which Crysler smiles and says, “Yeah, this is called ‘Scarborough Bluffs’. Performs “Scarborough Bluffs.” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Julie Crysler performing a piece.
Julie Crysler
00:41:45
[Introduces and performs “Grace.” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Julie Crysler performing a piece.
Julie Crysler
00:42:50
[Introduces and performs “Café Poetry.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot of Julie Crysler performing a piece.
Julie Crysler
00:44:00
[Introduces and performs “Fucking Leonard Cohen.” Applause. Thanks the audience.] | Video Description: Medium shot then closeup of Julie Crysler performing a piece.
Lee Gotham
00:45:35
[Thanks Julie Crysler, announces upcoming events, and introduces and the next performer, Joe De Paul.] | Video Description: Medium closeup of Lee Gotham making remarks while holding a beverage. Julie Crysler remains visible in the background, sitting and smoking a cigarette.
Joe De Paul
00:46:31
[Tells a story with surreal turns about his father being fired from his job, before directing his children to create a vegetable garden with ulterior motives. Applause.] | Video Description: Medium shot as Joe De Paul enters the stage. Purple sweater, buzz cut with receding high hairline, stubble goatee and mustache, small hoop earring on right lobe. Various degrees of closeup as Joe De Paul tells a story.
Lee Gotham
00:59:39
[Cut to Lee Gotham announcing the open-mic portion of the evening, then inviting Bill to the stage.] Video Description: Cut to a closeup of Lee Gotham making remarks and inviting an open-mic participant to the stage, while smoking a cigarrete.
Bill?
01:00:10
[Introduces and performs a piece opening with the line, “Among the mountains, we start the day like every day.” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup of Bill entering the stage while smoking a cigarette. Long curly hair, suit jacket atop a button-down shit. Various degrees of closeup as Bill introduces and performs a piece.
Bill?
01:01:15
[Performs a piece opening with the line, “The gratitude of savages.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:02:28
[Performs “Why.” Applause.] | Video Description: Extreme closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:03:11
[Introduces and performs “Seams.” Applause.] | Video Description: Extreme closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:03:55
[Performs a piece opening with the line, “Come on frolic in my playground.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:04:48
[Performs a piece opening with the line, “Glazed stare, disemboweled display.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:05:48
[Performs a piece opening with the line, “The forgiving sun again visits.” Late thinning applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:06:23
This was written on a Christmas night, at a therapy house. [Laughter. Performs a piece opening with the line, “Living still among the crystal night.” Applause.] | Video Description: Closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:07:47
[Performs a piece opening with the line, “And if I gaze into the future.” Applause.] | Video Description: Extreme closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:08:34
[Performs a piece opening with the line, “If for this day, for this moment, me.” Applause.] | Video Description: Extreme closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:09:15
[Performs a piece, opening with the line, “And, in the middle of my misery, my sanctity diminished.” Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Bill performs a piece.
Bill?
01:10:13
[Introduces and performs “Conformity.” Thanks the audience. Applause.] | Video Description: Medium closeup as Bill performs a last piece.
[Static]
01:11:20
Video Description: Cut to static.
END
01:13:04
[End of recording.]
Notes:
Event recording starts at 04:10:51:59 of VHS #4 asset, which contains multiple events.
NOTES
Type:
Cataloguer
Note:
Carlos A. Pittella
Type:
General
Note:
VHS #4 asset. Contains recordings of multiple events: (1) Enough Said 1995-03-06, Phineas Flower Trio and Godin Part 2; (2) Enough Said 1995-03-13, Karasick; (3) Enough Said 1995-03-20, Fluffy Pagan Echoes; and (4) Enough Said 1995-03-27, Farkas and Nuttall; and (5) Enough Said 1995-04-03, Smith. The asset was digitized, generating both uncompressed and compressed video files; the compressed files were then split into events to facilitate the transcription work. Metadata entries based on events.
RELATED WORKS
Citation:
Crysler, Julie. Vision songs. Montréal: Egg Sandwich Press, c1995.
Citation:
Bansfield, Anthony, ed. The N'X step: hochelaga and the diasporic African poets—a collection of performance poetry by a Montreal-based black writers group. Montréal: RevWord Press, 1995.
Citation:
Cabico, Regie, and Todd Swift, eds. Poetry Nation: The North American Anthology of Fusion Poetry. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 1998.