April 18 at
All Souls at Sundown:

Sachal Vasandani, vocalist
and the poetry of Langston Hughes

After graduating from the University of Michigan where he was awarded Collegiate Jazz Vocalist of the year in 1999 by DownBeat magazine, Sachal Vasandani moved to New York and quickly became a part of the jazz scene, making a musical home in storied clubs like the Zinc Bar. He was also tapped for a number of guest performances and recordings, notably by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Reed, T.S. Monk, and countless other peer and mentor musicians. His albums include Eyes Wide Open and We Move.

A pivotal figure in the Harlem Renaissance and a prolific writer, Langston Hughes continued the democratic tradition of American poetry established by poets such as Whitman and Sandburg. Known for his engagement with the world of jazz, he wrote poems charged with the immediacy of life and the rhythm of speech and song.