The University of Fiji started its International Jazz Day celebration at 8 am today with the classic ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ by Frank Sinatra and then continued with other jazz classics for 24 hours jazzathon. The jazzathon was hosted by the University’s Vox Radio with Station Manager Lawrence Singh leading the studio team. Live hosts were Professor Shaista Shameem and the University’s Music Director Sailasa Tora, formerly of Fiji’s well known band Black Rose.
Interspersed with the music were interviews with prominent Fijian musicians, such as Laisa Vulakoro, Ken Janson, Tom Mawi, and Eni Kumar, our music national icons and treasures. All said their music life began with and was heavily influenced by the jazz greats.
Vice Chancellor Professor Shaista Shameem said that the UNESCO Director General had sent the University an encouraging message of support since International Jazz Day was designated by UNESCO as a vehicle of education overcoming boundaries across the world.
The Vox Radio station had dedicated the day to international jazz since jazz music was universal and all music traditions had adapted it for their own audiences. Thus musicians in India, Arabia, Japan, Latin America, and just about every country had jazz musicians who improvised with jazz to suit their own audiences, Professor Shameem said. The Vox Studio played the entire repertoire of jazz sounds over the 24 hour period with the hosts addressing the history of jazz.
She said that jazz is important for Fiji too as local musicians had taken the opportunity to incorporate jazz rhythms into our own unique music style, she said.
