The Red Microphone duet has often been recorded/performed as a quartet or larger ensemble, but the core is Laurie Towers’ lead electric bass and John Pietaro’s poetry and percussion. The project is very poetically Left and anti-establishment, which they describe as Punk Jazz/Neo-Beat. The Red Microphone has recorded two albums for the underground label ESP-Disk, and another backing poet/activist Amina Baraka. They’ve performed at many NYC clubs and festivals and are now preparing for a new album, Punk Jazz, Take Zero in collaboration with avant-garde jazz vocalist Ellen Christi, who is also producing and adding keyboards and an array of sounds. The poetry surely speaks to the rogue writings of Thompson and there are direct references to Brecht, Mayakovsky, and many other radicals, including Hubert Selby Jr, an ongoing inspiration.