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| Fella Cederbaum "Speech Acrobats"- Companion Book Speech Acrobats, a new book from Renaissance woman Fella Cederbaum, released June 17, 2023, expands on her exceptionally well-reviewed 2023 album of the same name, with 8 additional, no less incisive poems. This multi-talented poet, musician, artist and filmmaker turns her thoughtful eye on successfully communicating—and coexisting—in the 21st century. Cederbaum delivers a socio-spiritual commentary on our times through her thought-provoking poetry. Once again she aims to gently, but uncompromisingly coax readers into deeper layers of thinking, and thereby possibly extract us from getting entangled in the currently widespread discordant discourse. Speech Acrobats' poems gently challenge readers to examine their assumptions about the origins of inner and outer discord. She calmly aims to clear the polarized air by asking questions, encouraging listeners to examine their firmly held beliefs, and listen to other points of view with an open mind rather than isolating or marching in lockstep with fellow believers. Cederbaum speaks from the heart, issuing a plea for common sense and renewed civility. She warns of the dangers of excluding or ignoring new research and ideas and seeks to inspire us to do better in promoting understanding, unity, and community. Highlights of Speech Acrobats include: • The title poem, which points out the drawbacks of the cancel culture. The poetry zeroes in on how shifting speech norms plus discarding traditional grammar and word choices muddy the waters of communication, impinge on civil discourse, and hamper free expression. • "The Great Offense, " announces "Enough is enough" to the practice of parsing every off-the-cuff remark for possible offense. • "Truth Tango, " an upbeat paean to embracing life with joy, urges the listener to: "Dance, sing with blazing hearts/You are amazing" • "Violence" reminds listeners that the vilification of others can blind people to the truth, with serious consequences. •"Straight Up Physiology" points out the dangers of over-accommodating the rights of one group at the expense of another. Cederbaum's original artwork for the cover of Speech Acrobat's reflects her positive and joyful attitude, depicting Speech Acrobat Bambolina (Fella's new original character), swinging through the darkness, opening a curtain of colorful hopefulness and encouragement. Cederbaum built a large and enthusiastic global following for her poetry as a weekly guest on WABC radio, broadcast in the New York tri-state area. The thought-provoking companion book to Speech Acrobats follows on the heels of the poet's well-received Of Life And Other Such Matters Vol.1 and Vol.2, which came out in in 2018 and 2019. The versatile and multi-talented Cederbaum also has written, directed, produced, and scored close to two dozen award-winning independent short films. Most of them have been screened at festivals around the globe. Of particular interest are, not only one, but two Humanitarian Awards of Distinction, from the IndieFEST Film Awards, which Cederbaum received in 2021 for her film A Test and in 2022 for her film Racing to Enlightenment. IndieFEST notes that all its award winners are "committed to making a difference in the world, " which describes Cederbaum to a T. Her uplifting poetry reveals deep empathy for the universality of life's experiences. For many readers it is a welcome guide to navigating current difficult times and finding opportunities for introspection. With her words, the multimedia artist challenges us to embrace reality and look at ourselves—and others—with acceptance and compassion. When you consider her background, perhaps it's not surprising that Cederbaum has proved herself so adept at sharing the wisdom gained in a lifetime of pondering life's hard questions: What is the meaning of life, what is truth, what is destiny, what is happiness? In the words of Jonathan Widran of JWVibe: …. "Every, incisive, socially conscious word spoken by the multi-faceted creative expressive Fella Cederbaum on her …. soul transformative second album Speech Acrobats is worth the investment of time and heart … finds the wise sage waxing poetic …. about all manner of socio-spiritual issues…..…. Perhaps the most inspiring aspect of Cederbaum's ventures is the way she has distilled a lifetime of thoughts into several minute sound bites worth contemplating a lifetime on." write your comments about the article :: © 2023 Jazz News :: home page |