“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,” begins Allen Ginsberg’s groundbreaking 1956 work titled, “Howl,” the most popular poem of the beat movement.

“Howl” opened the door to the expression of many feelings, which up to that point had been hidden and repressed, said history professor Bailey Young.

“Of course, a lot of people were offended by it, but it had a big influence on how the sixties developed,” he said.

Six members of Eastern’s faculty and administration will be accompanied by a jazz combo composed of faculty and students. They will recite “Howl” and other notable works of the beat movement at the Charleston Alley Theater this weekend in a production called, “The Beat Goes On.”

The performers include David Radavich and Young, who compiled the works and directed the production, along with Jeffrey Lynch, Daiva Markelis, Debra Valentino, and D. Craig Banyai. Paul Johnston provides the musical direction and plays with his combo, featuring Andy Baldwin, Eric Fitts and Josh Marcus.

The performers all agreed that, like jazz, beat poetry is a highly intellectual form of art, utilizing techniques such as improvisation and rhythmic experimentation, and is closely associated with the free use of the mind and body.

“Jazz and beat poetry are complementary strands of distinctive mid-20th century American art,” Young said.

Beat poetry was emerging and jazz was entering it’s “cool” period during a decade which many Americans associate with Leave it to Beaver and malt shop, Radavich said.

“That’s what I love about the fifties. It’s always talked about as a quiet period, but in truth it wasn’t quiet at all,” said Jeff Lynch, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. “There was actually a lot going on.”

The literary selections include works by Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane di Prima and Anne Waldman; and the combo will play compositions by Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk.

The performances are scheduled for 7:30p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Jason Hardimon can be reached at 581-7492 or DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.