UK presents: The Peace Jam

Improvised session involving an assortment of Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian, Turkish, Berber, Algerian, Israeli and Palestinian musicians will take place in Cambridge
Gil Karpas

The 16th of July will see Cambridge hold its Summer Sunday - World Music Day. This is an annual event that showcases UK based World Music bands and a sprinkling of World famous stars. This year’s stars are no exception. The bands on this year’s billing are BarrioViejo, Nim Sofyan, Daphna Sadeh and The Voyagers, Zuba and The Afro-Cuban Allstars.

 

The whole event is open-air and staged in the largest park in the heart of the city, “Parkers Piece” and will start at midday and runs through to 8 pm.

 

At 3 pm there will be an hour-long musical dedication to cultural co-operation and peace: The Peace Jam. This is an improvised session involving an assortment of Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian, Turkish, Berber, Algerian, Israeli and Palestinian musicians.

 

The idea behind the jam is to demonstrate that, despite information amongst the news media and political opinions to the contrary, there are cultural connections and it is artists and musicians that form the bonds and links between cultures. Through the music a listener will be able to make connections with the Algerian, Israeli, Palestinian and Turkish musicians.

 

Once the music starts the national identities with their interchangeable cultural terms will melt away into melody, rhythm and ultimately harmony. With improvised sessions we get a new dialogue, a fresh perspective and a spontaneous conversation.

 

Not an anti/pro war statement

 

The former mayor of Cambridge, John Hipkin, will make a keynote speech and then the Peace Jam will begin. There will be doves, balloons and peace t-shirts, a fringe tent to show the best of Cambridge’s Jazz musicians and world dance troupes, African drumming, stalls and information on the project and its contributors.

 

We must stress that this event is not an anti-war statement, neither is it pro-war. Such naïveté is not the concern of the organisers. Our vision is one of cultural connections, the hereafter of Peace and not the soapbox of opinion. There are so many different nationalities and cultural identities there can never be a political opinion that satisfies everyone’s needs. However, we can all agree on the spectrum and the continuum of our cultures.

 

It was though my friendship with Israeli musician Daphna Sadeh that this event has been made possible. Sadeh plays with an Israeli Arab musician from the Galilee called George Youssef Samaan. They have appeared at a number of concerts in the UK, from cultural co-operative festivals to London’s prestigious Royal Festival Hall.

 

Daphna has been a champion of cross-cultural dialogues through music and so far, so good. They are still working together. Her band The Voyagers feature some of the best Israeli musicians in the world and jazz music scene and are worth the air-fare to see them perform live. She has just finished recording her second album, which will be released in the autumn.

 

he whole event will be broadcast by vibe fm http://www.vibe105.co.uk and the peace jam will be jointly broadcast with http://www.209radio.co.uk across the web.

 

Gil Karpas is the organizer of the Peace Jam