Anthony Joseph and the Spasm Band (England)
Anthony Joseph and The Spasm Band is a group led by Trinidadian poet, novelist and lecturer Anthony Joseph. Joseph moved to the UK In 1989, forming the band in 2005 in London as an offshoot of his then novel-in-progress “The African Origins of UFOs” – for Joseph, poetry is music and must be chanted, sung and declaimed. The band’s musical influences include free jazz, Congo punk and voodoo funk, spoken word, soca, rapso, calypso, rock and the hypnotic spiritual Baptist rhythms that were prominent in Joseph’s Trinidadian childhood (the band’s name is derived from the spasms triggered by spiritual Baptist chants). The Spasm Band has released three critically-acclaimed albums, all coinciding with Joseph’s book publications. Their latest, Rubber Orchestras (2011) was named album of the year by Vibrations Magazine. And when this band and their blazing grooves hit the stage, prepare for a tidal wave of sound and emotion and potent words to cascade over you, lift you up, get you moving and get you thinking!
