Jazz and hip-hop fusion collaboration to play at the Fowler Museum

January 21, 2019

Fowler Out Loud is an evening concert series that invites UCLA students from all disciplines to perform at the Museum. On Jan. 23, 2019, Enjoy an evening of jazz, rock, and free improvisation with Solea’s core quintet: guitarist Sean Lee, saxophonist Lancelot Chu, drummer Jordan Avesar, bassist Kyle Frankhuizen, and pianist Hunter Melee. Solea has often played as a backup band for the hip-hop collective Adobe House.

Alumnus Sean Lee is the guitarist for Solea, a five-member band that formed during a co-op party last year. The band focuses primarily on jazz but also plays live backup for other genres, such as hip-hop and rock. (Courtesy of Zach Carels)

"The members of Solea first got together at a co-op party last year.

The jazz band comprises current and former UCLA students – Sean Lee, Hunter Mee-Lee, Lancelot Chu, Jordan Avesar and Kyle Frankhuizen. The members have been playing together since May and will now perform jazz fusion music at the Fowler Museum at UCLA on Wednesday for a Fowler Out Loud event. Drawing on their knowledge and background in jazz music, the band also plays live backup for other genres, such as hip-hop and rock, said Mee-Lee, a third-year gender studies student.

“What I like about jazz is that it gives you the baseline,” Mee-Lee said. “And I think just having all of us with this kind of synergy is what makes the band work.”

All of the band members have a strong connection to jazz through listening, studying and playing the genre, said Lee, an alumnus. And while they are listed as a jazz band, they still perform more than just the single style, having performed several other genres. Though the band is rooted in jazz, Lee said, they now often play hip-hop due to a partnership with the hip-hop collective Adobe House."— Roberto Prates, Jan. 21, 2019

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.

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