Robert C. Ford is a New York City poet, spoken-word artist, and recording artist known as the Wall Street Poet.

Upcoming Shows

Sun Oct 25

Three Rooms Press
Maintenant 20
Dada Book Release

New York Public Library
Jefferson Market

New York, NY

Free Event


Mon Nov 23

Inspired by Miles

The Bitter End
New York, NY

Tickets

Recent Highlights

Lviv National Philharmonic

Robert joined the Lviv Virtuosos at the Lviv National Philharmonic of Ukraine as guest poet for the world premiere of Gene Pritsker’s Concerto in Groove, alongside violinist Petro Krysa and conductor Taras Krysa.
Press: RBC-Ukraine

September 11 Requiem

Robert was a special guest at Composers Concordance’s 9/11 Requiem at Salomon Arts Gallery in Tribeca, reading an original essay as part of a program commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11.
Press: Symphony.org

Mark Kostabi - Keep that Light On

Artist and composer Mark Kostabi references Robert in his song and music video Keep That Light On, in lyrics that connect Robert with legendary jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman.

Then Ornette’s house
And Robert C. Ford
Blue on his face
Like a dream I couldn’t ignore

He got the photo
And the sax took off
Under balcony glass
He looked ten years younger

Joe’s Pub

Robert lit up the stage at Joe’s Pub in NYC, performing with Sound Liberation alongside legendary trombonist Dick Griffin (Sun Ra).

Robert C. Ford (poet) & Dick Griffin (trombone--Sun Ra) @ Joe's Pub

“Love is not a crime…”

The Cauldron is based on Robert’s dark humor lyrics about a woman’s revenge on a cheating boyfriend set to music by Gene Pritsker (Matrix Resurrections, Joe Zawinul). It combines elements of jazz, opera and spoken word into a contemporary classical music composition performed by Sound Liberation, featuring the powerhouse soprano vocals of Adriana Valdés and a searing trumpet solo by Frank Hackl (Lew Soloff), accompanied by Gene Pritsker (guitar), Amanda Ruzza (bass--Jill Sobule) and David Cossin (drums--Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), with Robert narrating starting at the 2:00 mark.

‘The Cauldron’ was submitted to NPR Music’s 2024 Tiny Desk Contest!