Finally, Julia Reynolds of the Santa Cruz Sentinel even wrote an article about this event - it was really cool to see this published on the front page of the city newspaper:
SANTA CRUZ >> It’s a Sunday afternoon, and conga drummer Wesley Hayes nods in appreciation as stand-up base player Victor Revere plucks a smooth solo in the lobby of the Museum of Art & History.
Joined by drummer Steve Velasquez and keyboardist Jack Bowers, the group’s sound is classy, upbeat, professional. Hayes breaks into a smile.
This is Jazz for Freedom, a free concert series with a twist.
Like quite a few others in the room, Hayes is formerly incarcerated.
So is Sam Cunningham, who spoke to an audience of a hundred at the April 9 concert.
“It feels good to be here,” Cunningham said afterward.
He’d only been out of prison for a few weeks when he spoke at the event. Outside, he greeted visitors inside a prison-cell-on-wheels parked beside the museum to give people a taste of what it feels like to be locked up.
“This is where you’d spend 23 hours a day if you’re at Pelican Bay,” Cunningham tells a couple who poke their heads inside. Then he points to a tall, narrow metal cage, with a base maybe four feet square, used to hold inmates for special observation. Cunningham notes that you can’t sit down inside it. The visitors appear unnerved and walk away.
The concerts, sponsored by the city’s longtime gang intervention organization, Barrios Unidos, are aimed at making residents aware of “what formerly incarcerated persons can achieve,” according to the promoters.
Cunningham said he was most surprised by how receptive the public was at last month’s event.
“A lot of us did horrible crimes and it’s understandable that people think we don’t deserve another chance,” he said. “It was so humbling and comforting to see how many people think we aren’t beyond redemption.”
This month’s concert, to be held Saturday at Museum of Art & History on Front Street in Santa Cruz, will feature six female jazz artists who have performed in prisons around the state, said Barrios director Nane Alejandrez.
The performers — Valerie Joi, Patrice Wallace, Kayla Kumar, Anne Stafford and Dandha Da Hora — hail from popular local groups Flor de Cana, Samba Da and others.
“All of them have gone to institutions to play,” Alejandrez said, adding that they’ll be performing a mix of “Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye and soul and gospel.”
The event will include a talk by Harriette Davis and Raquel Chavez about women in prison, whose population in California has increased nearly eight-fold since 1980.
The concert series is scheduled to run through June — coinciding with the museum’s Kinsey Exhibition, billed as the largest private collection of African-American art and artifacts. But Alejandrez said the music has been popular enough that he hopes the concerts can continue into summer.
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| Wesley Hayes, left, stand-up base player Victor Revere and drummer Steve Velasquez play Jazz for Freedom in the lobby of the Museum of Art & History. |
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