Event organizes diverse community around influential genre
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 24, 2001 9:00 p.m.
By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Staff
Thousands are expected to attend Sunday’s portion of the
15th Annual JazzReggae Festival ““ a celebration of the
rebellious, freeform, toe-tapping rhythms of jazz.
Organizers of the event, working through the USAC Cultural
Affairs Commission, hope to bring jazz to an audience that is
largely unfamiliar with the genre.
“It brings that type of music that most people don’t
get exposed to,” said Luke Patterson, a third-year
communication studies student and the talent director for
JazzReggae Festival.
The groups scheduled to perform are the Bobby Matos AfroCuban
Jazz Ensemble, Kenny Garrett Quartet, Nicholas Payton Quintet,
Dwight Trible Ensemble, Dakah and Keschia Potter Quintet.
According to the event’s organizers, jazz is still potent
as a musical form, and is also an important part of America’s
musical heritage.
“Jazz is a form of music that has roots in many types of
music, and a lot of music today has been influenced by jazz,”
said Farouk Gandhi, a fourth-year international economics student
and the director of JazzReggae Festival. He cited hip-hop, rock and
some electronic music as genres that are influenced by jazz.
With these crossover influences, Gandhi expects a diverse crowd
to participate in Jazz Day.
“It is bringing a different type of music and different
people together,” he said.
This idea of diversity is an important component of the UCLA
JazzReggae Festival which aims to introduce people to cultures and
music with which they might be unfamiliar while attracting people
from a variety of backgrounds.
“The music itself is very much promoting diversity and
putting something out in the public that is not just for one
ethnicity,” said Shen Weiss, a second-year communication
studies student who worked publicity for the festival.
She added that the music promotes messages of unity and mutual
understanding between people of different backgrounds.
The selection of the performers is also diverse, ranging from
the Latin-influenced jazz of the Bobby Matos AfroCuban Jazz
Ensemble to the hip-hop orchestra Dakah.
With this selection of artists, Gandhi hopes to set a record for
attendance for Jazz Day.
Traditionally Jazz Day draws fewer people than Reggae Day, a
fact that Ghandi attributes to the greater popularity of reggae,
especially among college audiences.
“Jazz is just not as mainstream, or promoted on a
mainstream MTV or radio level,” he said.
“Reggae’s a little more popular.”
Patterson explained that radio and TV play an enormous role in
determining what genres of music gain popularity. “People
only get to hear certain types of music that are thrown in their
faces everyday.”
Despite its loss in popularity among young people, Weiss
emphasized that jazz is an important part of American culture and
should be appreciated.
“Jazz is the only true American musical art form,”
said Weiss. “I think that, in itself, is something to be
praised here at UCLA.”
If nothing else, she thinks that students should go enjoy the
event.
“UCLA doesn’t have many outdoor music festivals that
go all day,” she said. “I love jazz; I love reggae and
I love listening to music outside in the sunshine.”
FESTIVAL:Â Jazz Day, the first day of the
two-day long 15th Annual JazzReggae Festival, will be held Sunday
from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the Intramural Field. Musical
performances will begin at noon. Tickets can be purchased through
Central Ticket Office on the day of the event. Admission is $4 for
the general public and free for UCLA students, faculty and
staff.
