UCLA JazzReggae Festival premieres new concert video series

[NelsonG]

The outdoor concert season is still months away, but the UCLA JazzReggae Festival is already prepping for its Memorial Day weekend event. Now in its 26^th year, it's become the largest student-run fest in the country and offers a two-day mash-up of hip-hop, reggae and yes, even a slice of actual jazz. To whet your appetite, the organizers have put togther a series of performance videos from last year’s festival, the first of which is premiering on Pop & Hiss.

The video includes a performance of horn-drenched soul courtesy of Lee Fields & the Expressions,  who played their weather-appropriate tune “Sunny” for a full crowd at last year's sold-out festival. Singing to an audience packed with locals in lawn chairs and Bruins sporting beach wear, Fields delivered a gut-wrenching love song backed by skintight rhythms from his suit-wearing six-piece ensemble.

Almost a year later, the 61-year-old Fields — who went from singing with Kool and the Gang in the mid-'70s to becoming an underground legend in soul music — is preparing to release a new record, “Faithful Man,” on March 13 via Brooklyn-based Truth and Soul Records.

The video series will be available on the festival's website starting in March and will feature footage from 2011 performers Little Dragon, the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble and others.

Stay tuned for updates on the 2012 lineup and check out the video below:

 

Lee Fields -- 'Sunny' from JazzReggae Festival on Vimeo.

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-- Nate Jackson

Photo: Screen grab from Lee Fields' performance of "Sunny" at the UCLA JazzReggae Festival in 2011. Credit: UCLA JazzReggae Festival.

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