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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grand slam of poetry

Mojgani, Wakefield, Brown take the stage

Multiple poetry slam champion Anis Mojgani will be part of the Junkyard Ghosts Revival on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Anis Mojgani (Photo courtesy of Anis Mojgani / The Spokesman-Review)
Isamu Jordan Soundwave Staff writer

Anis Mojgani’s troupe of truth activists is back in town this week.

Last year the multiple poetry slam champion brought Solomon Sparrows Electric Whale Revival with a brotherhood of the best of the best in the national poetry scene.

The Junkyard Ghosts Revival microphone spectacular – which comes to Empyrean Coffee House on Tuesday – is framed by musical elements and lots of interplay between the poets. The show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door.

The spoken word theatre experience is highlighted by national and world multi-champion cast of Buddy Wakefield, Derrick Brown and Mojgani, representing six of the nine individual National and World Poetry Slam titles since 2003.

Here’s a brief description of some of the featured artists:

Nashville native Derrick Brown is a former paratrooper, magician and fired weatherman whose words have been featured in books with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan.

Featured on NPR, the BBC, and HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, Buddy Wakefield quit his job at a biochemical firm in Gig Harbor, Wash., in 2001 to “live for a living.” He’s been touring America from the cockpit of a Honda Civic ever since.

Two-time National Poetry Slam Champion – one of only two people to win the title more than once – Mojgani believes his cat loves him.

Delicious vinyl

Unified Groove Merchants – now more than ever – is truly a record store.

Since the record shop opened its original location on Garland nine years ago it has been known as a hidden gem for top-choice hip-hop cuts, vintage jazz, rare groove and pretty much every other genre.

When out-of-town like Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Blue Scholars, and Lifesavas tour through Spokane they spend their downtime digging at Unified.

It’s a spot for collectors, newcomers to wax, deejays and people who just like the feel and sound of a record.

I stopped by Unified last week looking for the new GZA album when I found just a small corner for CDs buried under the more prominently displayed cassettes; everything else was wax.

Located at 2607 N. Monroe St., Unified Groove Merchants is overrun with actual phonographs.

“About a month ago we did away with most of our CDs and turned all of the floor space back into vinyl,” said Unified Groove Merchants owner Tony Brown.

Brown is a self-proclaimed digger who owns a record store, not a record store owner who digs.

“I got into vinyl by deejaying. Once I found out these hip-hoppers were sampling records I turned into a complete freak and bought everything I saw,” Brown said. “And here we are today – 100,000 records and counting.”

Check video from Unified Groove Merchants at www.spokane7.com/blogs/ soundwave.