It’s not every weekend that both a son of the world’s foremost reggae artist and a musician by the name of Tuba Gooding Jr. are on UCLA’s campus. Only on the weekend of the JazzReggae Festival.
The 22nd Annual JazzReggae Festival will be held this Memorial Day weekend, on Sunday and Monday on the Intramural Field. Jam Day on Sunday will feature The Roots, Immortal Technique, John Densmore’s Tribal Jazz, Goapele, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Amos Lee. Monday’s Reggae Day will feature Stephen Marley as the headliner, Capleton, Mr. Vegas, Alaine, Selena Serrano and Pangea Collective.
This year will feature Jam Day’s second appearance since its inception. Noting the dwindling crowds on Jazz Day, the Cultural Affairs Commission of the undergraduate student government decided last year to shift the focus of the first day.
“We want to move towards not just honoring jazz, but also honoring the music that jazz has definitely influenced, like hip-hop and soul and R&B,” said Bernice Shaw, the Cultural Affairs commissioner for the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
However, it wasn’t just dwindling crowds that made the switch necessary.
“We realized that the festival setting isn’t ideal for jazz listening,” said Shaw.
Because last year’s inaugural Jam Day, which featured Lupe Fiasco as its headliner, was a success in terms of turnout and response, it has been brought back yet again with the hugely influential Philadelphia live band and hip-hop crew The Roots headlining Sunday’s festivities. The band is fresh off the release of their newest album, “Rising Down.”
“We were able to get The Roots through an alumni connection. Two UCLA alumni are now The Roots’
managers,” Shaw said.
Despite the substantial buzz surrounding Philly’s finest attending this year’s Jam Day, as well as last year’s successful first trial of the event, there are some who wish the festival would adhere more to its pure jazz roots.
“It was originally a way to expose people to music they wouldn’t ordinarily listen to. … I mean it’s still called JazzReggae Festival, and the only true jazz artist there is Dr. Lonnie Smith,” said Brent Canter, a fourth-year jazz studies student whose Brent Canter Trio will perform on the Second Stage, a side stage for student musical acts.
“I mean, John Densmore is kind of fringe jazz, but the more traditional jazz is being played by the student groups like us and the Elliot Deutsch Big Band,” Canter said.
In addition to Canter’s group and the Big Band, seven student bands are playing across the two days, including last year’s Spring Sing winners, JP and the Ambassadors.
“We’re just holding onto the ghost of jazz,” said Canter.
Reggae Day has not undergone an overhaul, but it will also host a notable headliner: Grammy winner Stephen Marley, the fifth of reggae pioneer Bob Marley’s sons. Reggae Day in years past has been dependent on its programming of dancehall acts, a kissing cousin of reggae, with toasting (think Jamaican rapping) over electronic beats as opposed to the one-drop rhythms, guitar and organ of roots reggae.
“Getting a Marley on our stage is a way to diversify the lineup of Reggae Day, to add more roots reggae to our lineup,” Shaw said.
“Our lineup is something where we wanted to feature something for everyone. … We’re trying to accommodate everyone with our lineup, so it’s not necessarily the same as the concept that we had last year, but it’s in the same sort of direction.”
Although it can be argued that this year’s JazzReggae Festival has increased its appeal and spread out its genres well, the problem of tickets has reared its ugly head. As with last year, only 2,000 free student tickets were released, with 2,000 more being released for sale each day, albeit discounted for students.
Since only a fraction of JazzReggae’s costs are covered by student fees, the Cultural Affairs Commission cannot afford to offer any more than 2,000 for free, much to the chagrin of some students.
The JazzReggae Festival, although it has its share of problems, is anything but caught in stasis. Since the inception of Jam Day, the buzz surrounding the festival seems to have grown, especially with more and more mainstream acts visiting the IM field. But this may be as “big” as it gets.
“I don’t think we would ever pick anyone more mainstream than Lupe or The Roots, like T.I., because the festival has always been about exposure to new and alternative artists and education,” Shaw said.