Umar Bin Hassan / Pablo Cueco

Usually seen as the fathers of rap, or as described by poet Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), "the prototype Rappers", the Last Poets was born in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park on May 19th 1968 at an event celebrating the birthday of Malcolm X. Consisting at first of three poets and a drummer, the band quickly grew into a seven-member ensemble including Umar Bin Hassan. Mixing socially conscious - some would say "incendiary" - poetry with rhythm and music, the Last Poets were the militantly poetic expression of the Black Panther Party or of Students for a Democratic Society. Throughout his career, Bin Hassan's poetry has delved into critical and pressing social and political issues.

If this evening's collaboration with French percussionist Pablo Cueco seems almost natural, what is surprising is Cueco's instrument, the zarb, a Persian drum probably never before featured in Afro-American music. Cueco, who studied with Jean-Pierre Drouet and Gaston Sylvestre in classical and contemporary music as well as with Djamchid Chemirani, a master on the zarb, is among the few virtuosos of this drum and is recognized for his skills as an improviser and the colorfulness of his playing.