Penn celebrates MLK with night of jazz

Martin Luther King Day has come and gone, but Penn's celebration of the civil rights leader continues. Jazz for King I, a night of jazz and spoken word performances, brought around 40 students, faculty and community members to Houston Hall on Friday night. Despite poor weather conditions and a change of venue from the ARCH to the Houston Hall, organizers called the event a success. "I am very happy with the turnout," Martin Luther King Executive Planning Committee Chairman Jack Lewis said. "I'm impressed that so many people came out considering the weather. I'm very pleased." The Al Aguilera Latin Jazz Quartet began and ended the event with smooth jazz, providing a comfortable atmosphere for listeners to eat and chat at the many small tables placed around the Hall of Flags. Lewis stressed the importance of the event's atmosphere. "The purpose of tonight is to relax, have good food and fellowship," Lewis said to the applause of the crowd. In the middle of the evening, Larry Moses, the program director for the Bicultural InterGreek Council, read four Langston Hughes poems. He read "I Too" and "Dream Variations," two serious poems that he said reflected King's vision and the continued problems of race relations in America. Moses added, "As the minority people, our struggle continues." He also performed two comedic pieces, "As Be Fit a Man" and "Life is Fine," earning loud applause from the crowd. In addition to the jazz, College freshman Carlos Gomez read two of his own poetic compositions, "Universe" and "One." The crowd responded favorably. "I wasn't planning on hearing a student performance," Wharton and Engineering junior Tanya Lee said. "I really enjoyed it." Students who attended the concert said they primarily came for the jazz. College senior Victoria White noted that her interest in the music originated from a salsa class she took at Penn. "Last semester I took a salsa class through the Hispanic Engineering Association, and it renewed my interest in jazz," she said. The event was co-sponsored by La Casa Latina, Counseling and Psychological Services and the Martin Luther King Executive Planning Committee.