Best spoken-word night

Poetry readings are an acquired taste, and many novices find the posturing -- and the use of the body as punctuation -- a little hard to take. But the Lizard Lounge, which has been hosting a poetry open mike on Sunday nights for years, takes the edge off by backing the poets with a jazz combo. For the best poets, this extra touch simply heightens the spell of their carefully crafted words; for the less polished scribes, the music adds a note of grace they sorely need. Whether or not poetry is your cup of tea, the smooth pairing will help you get in the groove.

Maybe jazz and poetry do have an intrinsic connection. How else to explain that our runner-up in this category takes place at a jazz club? The Amazon Slam, dreamed up by the high-energy Ren Jender, is an all-woman poetry extravaganza that takes place at Ryles on the last Sunday of every month. (You can go to the Lizard the other three weeks.) Temperatures rise as the words flow, and the speakers can be fierce, frenzied, steamy, or poignant. But the slam is never less than electric, and these are riffs you won't want to miss.

Lizard Lounge, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 547-0759; Amazon Slam at Ryles, 212 Hampshire Street, Inman Square, Cambridge, (617) 876-9330.