by Alissa Winternheimer

I've always loved words. They're not only ultra-functional, but they're fun. Words have a look, feel, texture, weight and rhythm. They easily adapt to being played with: screamed, whispered, clipped, drawn out, chopped up, combined, conjugated and trailed off. Words exist to be manipulated.

John Cutaia is a master manipulator. He is also the lead verbalist of spoken word band Glosso Babel.

I was hesitant to explore the Austin spoken word/poetry scene. Past experience with tedious open-mike poetry sessions kept me away. Thoughts of the angst-ridden, pimply teenager purging himself and the "experienced" poet experimenting with a work-in-progress cause me to shudder.

Glosso Babel was like nothing I'd seen before. There was no reading, no droning and no explanations. Glosso Babel performed. They also drove away my fear and renewed my faith -- I now look forward to my next spoken word experience.

Cutaia's words meld and separate with Latin American, Afro-Cuban and jazz rhythms. [See poem as an example.] "I like world beat music because of the hand drum rhythms. Jazz is tied to world beat, even though it's distinctly American, because it comes from an African American tradition," Cutaia said. "Improvisation is inherent to jazz. I need the open, free form to ad lib."

Cutaia said performing his poetry to music "is just a lot of fun." And he does have fun. "You lose the audience if you do a straight recital. And it forces me to do a better job. Performing with a band requires rehearsal. It's exciting because there's an adrenaline rush performing to music." Cutaia added that the band serves as his first audience, ready to tell him when they don't like something.

Poetry, for Cutaia, is centered on the look and structure of words on the page. Spoken word is about sounds and memorization of a work. "What I do is different than just reading over the music. I listen to the band and they listen to me. It's more similar to singing than to reciting because I'm projecting an emotive voice."

John Cutaia himself is emotive. He has a smooth voice that floats through stanzas and pounds out refrains. His constant smile is affectatious and his body bends and bounces with his words.

Cutaia draws from real life when he writes his poetry. He has been inspired by his six year old daughter, transients on the drag, PBS specials and people in the office. And yes, his co-workers attend the shows and appreciate the inside jokes.

Even though Glosso Babel has been around for three years and Austin has a large, recognized spoken word scene, the performance is a novelty to most people. "Outsiders don't know what it is, but they get it because it's been around. The Clash, punk bands, Peter Gabriel and Elvis all have done this kind of thing," Cutaia said.

There is a recent resurgence of spoken word performance not seen since the Beat days. Lollapalooza has a poetry stage, spoken word is heard on the radio and record companies are showing interest. While Cutaia was influenced by the Beat poets, he points out that spoken word roots lie much deeper with Greek oral tradition, like Homer's The Odyssey.

"The scene here is huge and competitive. But it's good-competitive. Every one knows each other and is familiar with the work around town. There are enough forums for everyone and we all do different things. But we have a common goal of bringing it to a professional level." On June 19th Glosso Babel will be doing a show with fellow performers at Frontera@Hyde Park Theatre. Performers include: Bill Jeffers, Valerie Bridgeman Davis, Dr. Marvin Kenbrough, Thom the World Poet, Albert Hoffstickler and Susan Kjar.

In the future, Glosso Babel is looking for recording contracts and possibly some European tours. Cutaia has heard they pay better across the Atlantic.

Glosso Babel is also planning to incorporate modern dance into their shows. "This would add a visual element to the performance. We've worked with [dancer] Susan Kjar in the past and want to make that a regular part of what we do," Cutaia said.

Glosso is taken from glossolalia, which means speaking in tongues and is associated with both schizophrenia and religious fervor. Babel refers to the Tower of Babel. For those of you rusty with your Old Testament, Babel was to be the site of a tower reaching to heaven, but the construction of the tower was interrupted by the confusion of tongues.

John Cutaia is down-to-earth, warm and funny. Put him on stage with the band and he jumps to life with an incredible fervor. Glosso Babel is well worth a look and listen. Check them out at Frontera@Hyde Park Theatre on June 19 and on the KUT (90.5) Live Set, June 30 at 8:00.