Darnell Simpkins

WHILE LIVING IN EUROPE I BECAME PART OF A BAND.I WAS PRIMARILY A VOCALIST/PERCUSSIONIST. HOWEVER, THE BASS PLAYER AND I BECAME VERY GOOD FRIENDS. AND FROM TIME TO TIME WE WOULD COLLABORATE ON BASS LINES FOR OUR NEW SONGS. THIS IS DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE OF ONE WHO HAS NIETHER PLAYED A BASS, NOR WRITTTEN A SINGLE MUSIC NOTE. EVER! HOWEVER, DO TO THOSE FACTS, I WAS FORCED TO "SOUND" OUT MY IDEAS TO HIM. WHO KNEW THEN THAT SEVEN YEARS LATER I'D BE DOING POETRY WITH IT. ONE EVENING ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK, I HAPPENED BY THE "NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE",IN HARLEM,NY. AND THERE STOOD A YOUNG MAN HANDING OUT FLYERS THAT READ "POETRY COMPITITION 7PM TONIGHT.COME AS YOU ARE AND BRING WHAT CHA GOT!!!" THIS OF COURSE INTRIGUED ME. I RAN RIGHT HOME FRESHENED UP(I LIVED JUST AROUND THE CORNER) GRABBED MY "PHAROAH SANDERS CD! I KNEW EXACTLY WHICH PIECE I WAS GOING TO RECITE! I ARRIVED PROMPTLY AT 7PM! AND MORE THAN ANXIOUS TO DO MY STUFF! HOWEVER ONCE INSIDE, MUCH TO MY DISMAY, I WAS INFORMED THAT NO CDS WERE ALLOWED!!! THIS WAS BECAUSE THE JUDGES NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO HEAR EVERY "WORD" BEING SPOKEN! "HUMM" I THOUGHT TO MYSELF...NOW HOW CAN WE FIX THIS?! THEN SUDDENLY! THE EPIFANY OF EPIFANIES SURFACED!!! WHY NOT INCORPORATE A "VOCAL" BASS AND PERCUSSION BETWEEN THE WORDS?!? THAT WAY THEY CAN HEAR THE WORDS AND THE MUSIC/MELODY AS WELL!!! THE NEXT THING I KNEW, I WAS WINNING POETRY COMPETITIONS THOUGHOUT THE CITY. INVITED TO SPEAK AT SEVERAL COLLEGES,CHURCHES, YOUTH GROUP HOMES,BECAME A MEMBER OF "THE HOTTEST POETS",AND PERFORMED IN THE OFF-OFF BROADWAY PRODUCTION "THE ENTERTAINMENT ZONE"!!! SO LIKE I SAID, WHO KNEW THAT WORDS COMBINED WITH THOSE VERY SAME "VOCAL PERCUSSIONS" COULD DO SO MUCH ?!? IN ADDITION I'VE ALSO HOSTED A "JAZZ NIGHT" AT A LOCAL CLUB WHILE LIVING IN RHIENBERG,GERMANY. YES, I WAS THE DJ,THE MC AND I ALWAYS MANAGED TO ENTERTAIN WITH A SONG OR FIVE!!! IN 2003 I PRODUCED MY VERY FIRST CD. IT IS ENTITLED "AFREKA". IT IS "SPOKEN WORD" ART. IT'S A COMPILATION OF WORKS THAT RANGE FROM ROMANTIC TO ESOTERIC. FROM CULTURAL/POLITICAL AWARENESS TO THOUGHT PROVOKING SELF ANALYSIS. TO DATE I HAVE WRITTEN FIVE PLAYS : "MA'AT" (IN WHICH I PLAY THE GRIOT/OR NARRATOR), "BREATHLESS" "BROKEN UMBRELLAS" "FAT GIRLS NEED LOVE TOO!", AND "GOOD HAIR AND BAD DAZE". I AM PRESENTLY WORKING ON ANOTHER ADVENTURE! I HAVE HAD NO "FORMAL" TRAINING OTHER THAN HAVING TAKEN ACTING AND CREATIVE WRITING CLASSES WHILE ATTENDING HERBERT H. LEHMAN COLLEGE IN NYC.