World Jazz in Diliman

The UP College of Music invites the public to come and dance to the blending of grooves at World Jazz in Diliman as leading musicians in Jazz and World Music jam at the Abelardo Hall on Nov. 4.

A workshop on World Rhythms from 1-4 p.m. will open the festivities, to be followed by a concert at 6 p.m. featuring respected ensembles and artists specialized in the performance of Jazz, West African, and Afro-Latin music.

This is an event of the Department of Musicology and the Department of Winds and Percussion, and numbers among the festivities celebrating the College’s 100th anniversary.

Bo Razon’s workshop, New World Grooves: Afro Diaspora Rhythms in the Americas, will be free for all. He has studied Cuban folklore and music under the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, and around Matanzas under the Sociedad Antropologica de Cuba. He established the Afro-Latin program in the Musicology Department of the UP College of Music in his time as a member of the faculty, and has shared the stage with notable musicians such as Laurence Hobgood, David Rubinson, and Patti Austin. Razon has performed at reputable halls in San Francisco, Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid, and is currently based in Southern Nevada. He will take part in the concert by evening.

The concert will also feature the UP Jazz Ensemble, which is a jazz group based in the University of the Philippines. Prof. Rayben Maigue founded the group in 1977, which has endeavored to broaden jazz appreciation in the country ever since. Maigue serves as its musical director, and is currently the chairman of the UP College of Music winds and percussion department.

The Tago Jazz Collective, comprised of musicians under the patronage of the Tago Jazz Café, will also add to the Jazz end of the performance spectrum. The Tago Jazz Café is an official partner in this event.

Among the ranks of the World Music ensembles is Brigada, the premier Afro- Brazilian percussion ensemble in the Philippines. Included also is the UP Kekeli African Drum and Dance ensemble, which performs traditional music and dances of West African peoples such as the Asante, the Ewe, the Dagbamba, the Dagara, and the Ga. The Adinkra Lumads Djembe community, specialized in the performance of Djembe drum circles, will also perform in the evening.

Tickets to the concert cost P600 each, with a 50 percent discount for students.

For more details and ticket reservations, contact the college office by e-mailing gondour03@ or call 9260026.