Namaya, an internationally known jazz poet/ storyteller and humorist, based in Vermont, has performed throughout the US, Europe, New Zealand, Japan, and Asia. Last January he performed his GOD, SEX AND POLITICS 2009 show in Honolulu at the Jazz Minds Café, Sydney, Australia at El Rocco Jazz Cellar, and Cabaret Voltaire in Melbourne. This April he will be performing live at the Magnet Theater as the 'iR Reveren' jAz in Imagine This - Improvisation, story, jazz & blues, stand-up-philosophy, from the Church of the Be Here Now.

Namaya, an irreverent performance artist, with his trademark style of political satire and humor, addresses themes as diverse as Amerika Uber Alles, the jazz noir detective story of Benny O’Shea, the poignant How to Make a Child a Suicide Bomber, or Voodoo Love. He wows the audience with free rifting jazz improvisation. Namaya is known as "the high wire performance artist of the spoken word."

From previous shows:

• "I loved the show. Terrific fun. I want to bring him back." The Australian Center for Performance Arts
• The Nuyorican Café in NYC said, "Great show!"
• "Encore!" The Winston in Amsterdam , Holland
• "Loved the show." Sanctuary Cella in Brighton, England.
• "Great fun, the students loved it." Marlboro College, Vt.

No two shows are alike and anything is possible as he creates stories drawn from the suggestions of the audience or from the band. One performance at the Winston in Amsterdam had the crowd cheering for more poems of, "Flying pigs, greasy chicken thighs, quantum physics and true love." Another gig had the bass, percussion, and sax as colors of a sunset in Marrakech while Namaya created a story from those colors. At the Vermont Jazz Center he invited the musicians to play in the key of ku and created a story based on those notes. Namaya described his stories as "the fusion of sound, images, and colors dancing with the music." Proceeds from Namaya's shows, writings, and other creative works (www.vermontartpoetry.com) supports GRACE Cares a not for profit foundation to support community development projects.