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Soul-singer
Macy Gray belted out some songs off her
new best-of release at the 25th anniversary
KKJZ Blues Festival. • Tracey Roman
/ Daily Forty-Niner
Thousands
of fans attended the two-day blues festival
featuring the Original Blasters and Buddy
Guy, along with eight other bands that played
throughout the afternoon and early evening
on Saturday and Sunday. • Tracey Roman
/ Daily Forty-Niner
KJAZZ
celebrates its 25th anniversary case of
the blues
By
Austin Lewis
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Thousands
were in attendance this weekend as radio
station 88.1 KKJZ held the 25th annual Long
Beach Blues Festival at Cal State Long Beach.
The Original Blasters and Buddy Guy headlined
the two-day festival, and eight other bands
played throughout the afternoon and early
evening on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday’s
lineup included blues legends such as James
Cotton and Jimmie Vaughan. Also on the bill
was soul singer Macy Gray, who performed
in support of her new best-of release.
Rounding
out the bill on Saturday were Jimmy Dawkins
and Rod Piazza.
Clarence
Carter, described by KKJZ’s Doug MacLeod
as "one of the greatest soul voices
of all time," began Sunday’s
performance. He joked with the crowd and
played an entertaining show that set the
mood for the remainder of the festival.
Solomon Burke and Little Milton also played
Sunday. Both artists played energetic sets
and encouraged the crowd to sing along with
their songs. Also playing on Sunday was
Leon Russell.
Between
sets on Sunday, Long Beach City Councilwoman
Laura Richardson spoke to the crowd about
KKJZ and the blues festival. She presented
KKJZ general manager Judy Jankowski with
an honorary key to the city, and, stressing
how important the station is to Long Beach,
encouraged everyone in attendance to pledge
and become a KKJZ member. KKJZ is a public
radio station and depends on members’
contributions to continue broadcasting.
This
year’s festival was held near the
Pyramid in the CSULB Athletic Field. The
crowd was mostly made up of adults, but
several CSULB students and younger children
also attended. This was the first festival
for many people in the audience, but the
crowd was also made up of people who attend
the Long Beach Blues Festival every year.
Some fans stood up front and danced to the
music, but most people enjoyed the show
while sitting in lawn chairs or on blankets.
Others chose to gather under trees at the
far ends of the field and just listen to
the music, instead of standing closer to
the stage in the hot sun.
Also
between performances on Sunday, MacLeod
spoke to the crowd about the history of
the festival. He attended the first Long
Beach Blues Festival in 1980, when only
600 people were in the audience. Pleased
with this year’s turnout and how far
the festival has come in the past several
years, MacLeod looks forward to another
25 festivals.
KKJZ
is broadcast from the CSULB campus. KKJZ
programming can also be heard on 89.1 in
Redlands. The station’s primary listening
audience is in Southern California, but
KKJZ is also broadcast worldwide over the
Internet at www.kkjz.org. The station plays
all forms of jazz, ranging from bebop and
swing to Latin jazz, and it plays blues
on the weekends.
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