Jazz For A Sunday Afternoon

By Ricky Richardson

            A crowd of 6,000 from the jazz community could not have wished for a more pleasant day to attend the 19th Annual UCLA Jazz/ Reggae Festival. Dark clouds and a cool breeze greeted the early arrivals to the Intra-mural Field on the manicured lawn of the UCLA campus.

            The sun broke out as the UCLA Jazz Ensemble played its first note to kick off the days festivities. They played a set of straight-ahead jazz that featured several outstanding soloists. They opened with “Blues In Hoss”s Flat” and continued with “Georgia On My Mind” by Ray Charles with a nice solo by Aaron Leibowitz on saxophone. Guitarist Estuardo Alvarado stood out on Wes Montgomery’s “Road Song”. “Beyond The Sea” by Bobby Darrin was also featured during their extremely entertaining set. The band concluded their set with “Moments Notice” by John Coltrane.

            The Noland Shaheed Quintet continued in a straight-ahead jazz mode. This tight-knit group excelled during their brief set. The highlights were “Just Another Day” mixed with Latin rhythms and the title track from their latest CD “Lamentations From The Middle Passages.” The quintet consisted of Noland Shaheed on trumpet/cornet, Zane Musa on saxophone, Donald Vega playing keyboards, Ryan Cross on bass and Quentin Dennard keeping time on drums.

            Sheree Brown & Friends consisted of a superb supporting cast of marvelous musicians. Andre Nash-percussions, Tim Stephens Jr.-drums, Valerie Diamond-keyboards, Rhasaan Fredricks-bass, Yvette Devareaux-violin, Maya Nicole Johnson and Kiwana Lewis back up vocals. Guitarist Sheree Brown showcased her expansive vocal range on “The Creator Has A Master Plan”, “Love Is Forever”, “I Would Rather Be In Love With You”, “and closed a delightful set with “Little Boy Blue.” Sheree Brown’s CD-Eighty Three will be released in Spring 2006.

            Unwrapped All-Stars featuring Dennis Nelson played an engaging set of jazz funked up with hip-hop. They played “Roll-Out”, “It’s Just Like Music”, “So Fresh; So Clean”, and closed with “Fantasy” by Earth Wind and Fire.

            Vocalist Dwele from the Motor City of Detroit played a soulful set of original tunes mixed with some hip-hop. The crowd couldn’t get another of this rising star. They had to settle for the upcoming release of his debut CD next month.

            Trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor got down with a funk driven, energetic and powerful set of fusion inspired jazz a la Miles Davis, from his latest CD-The RH Factor: Hard Groove.

            The headliner India Irie closed out the jazz portion of the 19th Annual UCLA Jazz/Reggae Festival with a crowd pleasing set of original tunes from her previous CDs.