Living in Poetry, Living in Song

National Book Award-finalist poet Linda Pastan reads from her new volume, Insomnia. She’ll be joined by award-winning recording artist and composer/multi-instrumentalist Joyce Kouffman performing new music, along with academy-award winning composer Mary Watkins on piano and vocalist Cheri Anderson interpreting songs “Sarah Vaughn-style.” Co-sponsored by Point Reyes Books and Sound Orchard. This event is likely to sell out. Advance tickets are available at JoyceJazz.com.

About the artists:

Joyce Kouffman: Award-winning West Marin composer/educator, Joyce Kouffman, has produced three previous events with Linda Pastan starting in 2007, along with poets Jane Hirshfield and Robert Hass. She has immersed herself in Pastan's work for some 15 years, with many music interpretations of Pastan's work now recorded on CDs, DVDs, and films. For more info: www.JoyceJazz.com

Linda Pastan: One of America's most respected senior poets, especially by fellow poets, Linda Pastan served as  poet laureate of Maryland. Pastan was twice a finalist for the National Book Award. On Toby's stage in 2007, former US poet laureate Robert Hass said: “A Pastan poem is like Ted Williams warming up before the game...Every line is a home run out of the park!”

Mary Watkins: Although she is most often known as a jazz pianist full of the spirituality of a church service, Mary Watkins, is also one of the Bay Area's most prolific composers. She has recently completed her third opera about the life and times of Emmett Till. Watkins and Joyce Kouffman have collaborated on numerous recordings with Point Reyes recording engineer Robin Livingston, one of which received the “Top Ten Picks” of 2004 on KCSM radio, the Bay Area's main jazz station. www.MaryWatkins.net.

Cheri Anderson: A versatile vocalist of many styles and genres, Cheri Anderson’s   recent emphasis is on the American song book in performances with pianist Mary Watkins and jazz drummer Joyce Kouffman. She is also a sought-after music educator in the field of vocal coaching and workshops. Her newest CD of originals and standards with Watkins and Kouffman will be released in winter of 2015. www.CheriAndersonMusic.com.