Essenzaslam Poetry Slam
From AZPoetrypedia
the Essenzaslam Poetry Slam was the longest running poetry slam in the Southwest.
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About the Essenzaslam Poetry Slam
It was founded on November 3rd, 1994, by poet/organizer Bob Nelson. From 1994-2008, the slam made it's home in Essenza Coffeehouse, Mesa, Arizona's oldest coffeehouse until it closed in July of 2008.
Early Years (1994-1997)
In the fall of 1994, local Barista Andrew Berger first discussed with local transplant Bob Nelson the possibiity of hosting a poetry event at Essenza Coffeehouse. Local poet "Sarge" Lintecum had also approached owner Brian Gilbert about hosting an event at the space, as it had become the valley's hottest music open mic spot on Tuesday Nights. Eventually, Nelson was granted permission to host an event, suggesting that his offer to receive payment of 1 Mocha each show was what had sealed the deal.
Originally, Essenzaslam acted as a sort of counter-event to the popular slam of the day, The Mary McCann Poetry Slam, run by local disc jockey Mary McCann, and hosted by Sarge Lintecum. Many of Essenza's poets, such as Dave Tabor, Chris Turner, James Sapp, Rapa, etc. were merely looking for an open microphone in order to perform their works. Many of the Valley's more serious performance poets attended the McCann Poetry Slam, then hosted by the Orbit Jazz Lounge.
In 1996, the Essenzaslam community created the first ever Mesa National Poetry Slam Team (James Sapp, Regina Blakely, Eirean Bradley, Andrew Berger, with David Tabor as the Alternate), They travelled to Portland, OR., where Andrew's poem Funky Clown Town would become a slam cult classic and Dave Tabor would garner tremendous attention for his "Rabbit Ears".
Golden Age (1998-2001)
Two things would happen in 1998 that would change the coarse of the poetry slam forever. Bill Campana and Patrick Hare. In 1998, the Mesa Slam Team would attend the National Poetry Slam in Austin, TX. featuring Josh Ostrander, Technicolor Holly Samulcek, Patrick Hare and team replacement Bill Campana. Bill and Patrick would signal a divergence of Essenza from the serious, emtionally driven performance poetry of the day with humor and sarcasm, joined by such legendary voices as Eirean Bradley, Carl Lombardi, and New York Native Spiro Panosopoulis. The 1999 Mesa National Team was considered by many to be the finest team of poets Phoenix had ever fielded, and in 1999 and 2000, Essenzaslam reached the Semi-finals of the National Poetry Slam. As this era faded two sgnificant poets would emerge in the community: Corbet Dean and The Klute.
Generation 3 (2002-2005)
Corbet Dean, who had begun slamming in 2000, finished 2nd overall at the 2002 National Poetry Slam in Minneapolis, MN. His performance style was markedly different from the generation of poets before him, and there were times of serious friction in the community as it changed. His remarkable success came from his ability to relay tremendously serious and tragic events from a unique point of view, one that he constantly had to stuggle to gain acceptance with both locally and nationally in the poetry community. The Klute, by contrast, heralded himself as an understudy of the more sarcastic bent of his forepoets, generating poem after poem of tremendous wit and humor. In 2005, a team of Dean, The Klute, Brent Heffron and Aimee Doyle reached the Semi-Finals of the National Poetry Slam.
The Slow Death (2006-2008)
By 2006, Essenza Coffeehouse had changed owners 3 times, and attendance and interest in the slam had begun to wane. The venue actually closed briefly in 2006, and again for a short time in 2007, finally closing for good in June of 2008. The loss was not filled until 2009, when Anthology, Inc. started a new slam/open mic/featured reader event.
Who Hosted at Essenzaslam?
This incomplete list, initially compiled by Bob Nelson in 2008, attempts to document poets that have hosted at the Slam.
Who Read at Essenzaslam?
This incomplete list, initially compiled by Bill Campana in 2006, attempts to document poets that have read at the Slam.
akua alex (last name unknown) the ammendment dale anderson lucy anderton ken arkind nikki armstrong artiste krystal ashe brent axel
lee r. ballard faye ballentine mr. green bean christa bell andrew (funky klown town) berger david bianchi geoff bishoff blair (from detroit) cynthia black regina blakley melissa bliss eirean bradley brian (last name unknown) derrick brown
bill campana michael cerelli ivan chavez chesko claudia cobratic dave collins mark collins tom collins matthew john connely jon conry
dj (cockney rebel) tony damico issm dark davey (the girl from tucson) paul davis corbet dean nick decarlo (the barista) julia delbridge mack dennis Manifest Destiny pannica dillon paul d'loughy deon doughty ammie doyle marty (the mayor of higher ground) drew
big poppa e william eason julie elefante mohammed elhassan chaz ellik eric (last name unknown) nikki esquadero jack evans samaiya ewing mr. excitement
jeff falk josh fleming dom flemmons brian fransen josh friedman mr. frip everett forest nick fox ragan fox
g gab scott huntington gamble ghost- light in the darkness andrea gibson torbin gilbert matt gismondi (MCMG) jen goldberg jesse dyllan grace Christopher Fox Graham eric gray kate geenberg greg (the unfunny stand-up comic) ester griego
hb marje hahn raven hail andy hall patrick hare brent heffron mike henry cass hodges carol hogan wynter holden stephan hopkins hubito michelle hunter
ian (last name unknown) virginia ikeda
jrc j-town Jack Greenwood jasenka jason (last name unknown) jesse joe (the barista) john (last name unknown) angry johnny aaron johnson kim johnson jonna joseph (last name unknown) trish justrish
edward kelly jaime kennedy mike kewel scott klein casey klinker cat klotsche the klute lisa rose knudsen shaun kuter
suzy la follette chris lane laramy the pissed off gimp lawayne sue (shmoo) lawrence brian lee liberty brandy linticum sarge linticum paul lipman lisa marie (mother of victoria the 10-year old lesbian) vadim litvak liz bakeem lloyd carl lombardi mrs. lyon chrystal lytle
ashley mack jose magana (ba da da da dow ben manning sheryl manning sharkie marado mare margaret (from tucson) mark (last name unknown) tristan marshell matt mason maya cage mccallister jack mccarthy marty mcconnel mike mcgee don mcgiver shawn mcirish (not his real last name but that's what we thought it should have been) mike (last name unknown) mike (conspiracy mike) anthony miller kelsey miller laura moran kenny mostern joe moustache john wayne mercure (the sonneteer) phil murray
natasha (last name unknown) bob nelson harmony nelson theresa newkirk jeff newton dalton nichols monica nolan
kari o'conner karen odell alexis o'hara amalia ortiz josh ostrander
spyro panousopoulis kevin patterson lauren perry logan phillips pittsburgh maryann prawdzik (the owner) andrew procyk rob (bling bling) pruitt
rachel (daughter of g) clebo rainey rappa sonya renee kenn rodriguez rolando (last name unknown) nate romero ronald Stephen G. Roy adam rubenstein russ (last name unknown)
sadie (last name unknown) sahar technocolor holly salmucek perry sams sammy joe ray sandoval jim sapp dawn saylor scooter clayton scott wilson scott andy seaton shadowkat shaggy rowy shebala sharon skinner marie smith porcupine smith danny solis sonny rolf springer jonathan standifird jessica steele morris stegosaurus steph-ne adam stone david storer taneka stotts manu styles dan sullivan
dave tabor sammie tapia tracy thomas chris traask geoff trenchard trent (last name unknown) chris turner
victoria (the 10-year old lesbian)
buddy wakefield wammo luke warmwater kari warrala ed waters olyn wayne phil west whistler john williams Evan Wilson kafiah winston halycone b. wise arrian wissel
