Tuesday, 5/27/97 Stir It Up.. UCLA’s JazzReggae Fest served up
an eclectic mix of music and food over Memorial Day weekend
By Marie Blanchard and Tyler Maxwell Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Peace, love and music were the essential ingredients of the 11th
annual UCLA JazzReggae Fest. A sea of bright parasols and colored
blankets, mingled with the smells of suntan lotion and garlic
chicken, greeted all those who came to spend Memorial Weekend at
the festival. "I just came to collect the ambiance," said UCLA
alumni Ory Barak. "Its a mix of all the senses. You smell the
barbecue, hear the music, feel the grass." With over 15 food stands
and numerous arts and crafts booths selling everything from cigars
and bongs to hats and jewelry, over 5,000 people attended the jazz
portion of the festival alone, which started at noon on Sunday.
From jazz lovers to hacky-sack players, attendees cited everything
from the musicians, food and the beautiful weather as reasons for
spending the afternoon under the bright sun, listening to the
rhythm of Pancho Sanchez’s latin drums and the cool trumpeting of
Terence Blanchard. "The festival has never been so big," said Sam
Dorman, a third-year UCLA student and the director of the Jazz
Festival. Dorman first got involved in the jazz festival after
coming to UCLA. "It’s just a wonderful event. The people, the food,
there’s great art and it’s free. You can’t find this anywhere
else," he said. While spectators salsa-danced mid-afternoon in the
smoke of the nearby Jamaican food stand’s grill and children ran
between the blankets of those camped out on the grass for an
afternoon of music, local Angeleno Pat Vining explained her reason
for coming. "It’s free and you can bring the kids," she said,
pointing to children playing ball past the white tents of the
crafts booths. "I’ve been coming for the past couple of years. It’s
a nice family activity and you can spend the whole day," Vining
said. With acts as varied as Susie Hansen and the Latin Jazz Band
to UCLA’s own jazz studies faculty, including Kenny Burrell, Billie
Higgins and Harold Land, Dorman cited the variety and the big names
as reasons for the increase in attendance, hoping that this year’s
success would garner the festival national attention.
Self-described jazz aficionados, both were willing to stick it out
in the sun with large hats until the last act had played. Although
UCLA students didn’t make up the majority of the crowd, Dorman was
pleased at the turnout, citing an increase in TV and radio
advertising for the number of students at the event. "Usually there
are more people from the community (at the jazz festival) but this
year actually a lot of UCLA students came," he said. "It was a
resounding success, the place was rocking, especially when Poncho
Sanchez was playing. Everyone on the Intramural (IM) field was
dancing," Dorman said. The second day of the festival kicked off
with the reggae duo Wailing Souls, known for their hit single
"Shark Attack." The crowd cheered when they began playing Bob
Marley’s hit, "No Woman, No Cry" in tribute to the artist.
Dedicated fans came from all over Southern California for the
festival. David King came all the way from Anaheim to enjoy the
music and sun on his Monday off work. "I know most of the groups
that are playing today," he said. "I am a musician so I am familiar
with the groups and their music." The reggae festival was presented
as the premier reggae event of the year by its promoters. "This
event is replacing ‘Sunsplash’ this year because it isn’t
happening," said Jaime Nack, the JazzReggae Fest producer and
reggae director . Sunsplash is the annual reggae concert held in
memory of Marley, one of the best known reggae artists who died of
cancer in the early ’80s. "This will be as big as Sunsplash has
been in the past," Nack said. "We have four headliners billed as
opposed to the one or two headliners (in the past)." A varied
assortment of people came to the Monday’s reggae festival. Partly
UCLA students, some families with small children, and of course the
hard-line Rastas, sporting dreadlocks and Bob Marley T-shirts,
mixed together in line for the popular Jamaican cuisine stand. "I
am here because I want to support UCLA and I like the music," said
Linda Davis from Marina Del Rey . The reggae portion of the event
has been included in seven of the 11 festivals. The promoters of
the JazzReggae Fest. were very optimistic about the outcome of this
years event. "Reggae is always big, but this will be bigger than
all the other years combined," Dorman said. JUSTIN WARREN/Daily
Bruin UCLA alumnus Charles Hamel (left) dances with public policy
graduate student Emily Williams (right) at the UCLA JazzReggae
Fest. JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin Jazz musician Poncho Sanchez
performs before a crowd of 5,000.