Over the long Memorial weekend I found myself with a powerful craving for some vegetable patties and barbecued corn on the cob served up in an outdoor atmosphere. Only one place to go: The Jazz Reggae Festival at UCLA. We packed our blanket and water bottles and headed west…or more specifically, Westwood. This, the 21st annual UCLA Jazz Reggae Fest was held on the intramural field on the campus of the University. The day held promises of sun-kissed skin, cultural art and clothing, island food, amazing live music, and the recurrent sweet stink of Mother Earths’ herbal gift to us all.
We decide to attend on Sun. which is billed as ‘Jam Day’, with Monday being ‘Reggae Day’. Jam Day offers up some lesser known acts such as; Soul Live and J Davey, as well as the more commercially viable Les Nubians and Lupe Fiasco, culminating with the one and only Jill Scott.
Upon entering the venue, we are immediately smacked in the face by the myriad of aromas wafting over the crowd of twenty thousand or so from the food booths that line the east side of the general admission infield. The vendors touted names like: ‘A Taste of Jamaica’ and ‘Ingrid’s Guyanese Cuisine’ so it became exceedingly simple to get into an island state of mind. Even though it was a bit difficult for me and my companion to achieve a meatless lunch we eventually found our way to some fried plantains and other doughy starchy things. Some rum would have completed our virtual vacation but as this was a dry event, we had to settle for smoothies and lemonade.
Walking and sipping on our virgin cocktails, we surf the vendor booths on the west side of the field. Booths in which are being sold various pieces of African art and jewelry, very summery garments with distinct tropical patterns, and of course the ubiquitous tee shirts with various ethnically conscious pictures and affirmations printed on them. We snatch up an especially pride inducing “Got Melanin?” tee and decide to hunker down for the remainder of the concert.
We make our way through the sea of picnic blankets and lawn chairs and find the perfect spot. Les Nubians are negotiating their way through a very strong set as we truly soak in the vibe. It’s a cool friendly atmosphere, the people behind us gladly take our picture when asked and the guy on the blanket in front of us even offered us a stick of gum (seriously). In between the performers’ sets, we are treated to the sounds of classic hip-hop joints by groups like ‘A Tribe Called Quest’ and ‘Gang starr’. I felt like I’d died and gone to OG B-boy heaven!
Lupe Fiasco takes the stage and the crowds hype level noticeably increases. His karaoke style set is a little sloppy and lacks any real ‘umph’ but his strong delivery of ‘Daydreamin’ is a redeeming moment. By the time Jill Scott takes the stage, people are out of picnic mode, off their blankets and on their feet. Few can command a stage and an audience like this woman. As the sun dipped low into the western sky, the intramural field at UCLA was bathed in the powerful and soulful resonance of this one of a kind performer.
And all through the final hour of The Jazz Reggae Festival-Jam Day, we swayed to the sweet sounds, breathed in the ambient herbal oxygen and planned on returning to this campus next Memorial weekend.