Meridian Music commences its Fall 2010 series with "Call And Response" featuring poet Dottie Grossman and improvising trombonist Michael Vlatkovich. Grossman reads her poems aloud while Vlatkovich improvises a response on trombone. Neither knows in advance what the other will choose to do. The format creates an appealing artistic tension in a unique way - it reaches both literary and musical audiences, while transcending the usual "jazz and poetry" formula. It skirts the obvious and the literal, finding a common emotional point from which to spontaneously "compose" and combine the precision of poetry with the improvisational essence of jazz. The music enhances the words without overpowering them, and vice-versa.

The late Allen Ginsberg called Dorothea (Dottie) Grossman's poetry, "clear, odd, personal, funny or wild-weird, curious and lucid." The award-winning poet lives, works and writes in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in numerous poetry journals and magazines. Nine of her poems were featured in a recent (March, 2010) issue of Poetry Magazine. In 1988, Tango Press published her book, "Cuttings: Selected Poetry 1978-1988." "Poems From Cave 17" was published in 1996, and "Museum of Rain" was published by Take Out Publications in 2001. Her latest chapbook, The First Time I Ate Sushi, was published by Zerx Press in January, 2008. Her poems were featured in a live performance at Wichita State University in 2006, in a piece commissioned by the school for theater arts majors, singers and musicians under the direction of flutist Ellen Burr. In August, 2006, she was invited to exhibit poems at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Galleries as part of a FLUXUS salute called "Broom Events: Sweepings."

Michael Vlatkovich, trombonist, composer and arranger, lives in Los Angeles, CA and also tours extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe. In addition to leading his own ensembles, Vlatkovich has performed and recorded with a variety of singers and instrumentalists, including Peggy Lee, Brian Setzer, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Bryan Adams, Bobby Bradford, Gerry Hemingway, and Rob Blakeslee. The magazine, "JAZZIZ" has called Vlatkovich, "...one of the most extraordinary improvising trombonists in this country as well as overseas. Also a gifted composer and arranger, Vlatkovich is one of the leading talents among Los Angeles improvisational players. Working from the Left Coast since 1973, he is well known for tireless touring, bringing his music all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. A daring and emotionally charged performer, Vlatkovich takes delight in blending a broad variety of jazz and world music styles into his own brand of engaging and unpredictable music. His approach manages to express a raw power and beauty within a minimally structured format that allows extensive group improvisations to lead the way."

The CD, "Call And Response" (on the pfMentum label) represents Grossman and Vlatkovich in live performance mode.

See photos from the concert.