Poetry jam at the White House

*Scroll down for update.

The Obamas prove their coolness with a poetry night at the White House.

Poets and playwrights, actors and musicians packed the ornate East Room, delivering cool jazz and glorious spoken-word poetry, sprinkling a bit of hip-hop and a bit of the heroic couplet. And through it all, the president and the first lady watched -- and applauded.

"We're here to celebrate the power of words," President Obama said. Words "help us appreciate beauty and also understand pain. They inspire us to action." He introduced the first lady as his poet.

Michelle Obama told the gathering that the event was a way to open up the White House and invite in diverse voices. "I have wanted to do this from day one," Mrs. Obama said. "The notion of standing in this room and hearing some poetry."

James Earl Jones reading from Othello sounds wonderful. Heroic couplets, yes. But I'm nowhere near hip enough to even recognize the names of the rising stars that were invited to this soiree by Desiree Rogers, so I can't comment on the poetry. I would take a pass on listening to Ayelet Waldman, though.

Jazz musicians played between the poetry readings:

[Eric "ELEW"] Lewis has received critical praise for his improvisation of jazz, which he calls "rock jazz." But he has also received heated criticism from some camps. He said an invitation to perform at the White House was like a validation for his music.

"I just met the first lady and I gave her a purse, a red clutch," Lewis said in an interview prior to the performance. "She loved it. She said she saw some videos of me where I reached inside the piano and played the strings. She wanted to make sure I do that on [this] performance. It was nice to receive her okay. She told me to rock the house and do my thing on the piano.

"I can't tell you how special it is that Michelle Obama asked me to go inside the piano," said Lewis, who performed "Mr. Brightside." "For her to be that cool and open-minded to request it shows me some people get it, and some people don't.

"The one that got it happens to be the first lady."

I don't think I get it.

*Update:

But I do get this, from my motown blog-pal: pure entertainment from Brian Setzer, who knows how to rock the house for real. Yes, he's got video.


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