The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, March 14, 2014 - 5

Mazzaa to bring Indian
dance for a good cause

MARTINEZ GROUP
Slappin' da base, man.
Martinez Group
comes to the 'U'

By KATHLEEN DAVIS
DailyArts Writer
Michigan Mazzaa's success
story is one of simple begin-
nings. What started as an idea
tossed around
between LSA Michigan
senior and co-
director Surya Mazzaa
Iyer and his two
roommates in Saturday,
2011 has since 7 p.m.
evolved into an
expansive on- The Michigan
campus organi- Theater
zation and hosts $10-$15
one of the coun-
try's premier
intercollegiate
Bollywood dance competitions,
A2 Dhoom, which is having it's
second annual run this Saturday
at the Michigan Theater.
While the organization hosts
events to celebrate South Asian
American culture, Michigan
Mazzaa first and foremost hopes
to raise awareness of the wide-
spread issue of human trafficking
and sexual exploitation alongside
Connecticut-based human rights
organization Love146, adding an
extremely unique presence to the
university community.
"The purpose is to raise aware-
ness and funds for the fight
against human trafficking," Maz-
zaa co-director Priya Joshi said.
"But we do so through social jus-
tice and holding South Asian cul-
tural events."
2013's A2 Dhoom competition
served both as one of the first
large Michigan Mazzaa events as
well as being the first Bollywood
dance competition in the state of
Michigan. Michigan Mazzaa has
since been recognized nationally
by Bollywood America, the larg-
est South Asian dance competi-
tion in North America and will
send the winning team from A2

Dhoom
ship he
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The
will bec
many
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Northw
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have eit
compet
As A
and yea
tion is
and Jos
nity to,
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"I th
that ou
focused
gle tear
last yea
ing for,
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"We
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reach o
this isa
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come fr
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Aftet
NGO a
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inaugu

to the national champion- decided to choose a smaller orga-
id this year in California's nization with the same focus for
ea. 2014. After a large screening pro-
eight competing teams cess, Lovet46 was chosen, a char-
coming to Ann Arbor from ity that focuses on awareness and
places, including Univer- rehabilitation of former victims.
California Santa Cruz and All funds from A2 Dhoom will go
vestern University. As the directlyto Love146.
iversity, Michiganwill not Apart from A2 Dhoom, the
ther of its two dance teams club also hosts documentary
:e. screenings of films raising aware-
2 Dhoom is only in its sec- ness for the issue. Michigan Maz-
ar, hosting a bid competi- zaa also helped bring Hindi a
a very big deal, and Iyer cappella group, Penn Masala, to
shi attribute the opportu- Ann Arbor in 2011.
the success of the inaugu- The success of Michigan Maz-
nt. zaa has been a pleasant surprise
for its directors, and they only
hope the organization continues
to grow. Last year A2 Dhoom
reached an audience of about 600
A2 Dhoom and they hope this year will be
even more successful.
returns to "It's really neat to think some-
M ian times that in twenty years A2
 iciganL Dhoom could still be sticking
Theater. around," Joshi said. "I think it's
great that we've incorporated
our charities and cause and I
really want that to stay and foster
throughout the years, at a school
ink what did set us apart is like Michigan I think it'll be very
r main goal is very cause- easy to do that."
I," Joshi said. "Every sin- "We'd like the student commu-
m that came to A2 Dhoom nity to come out because it's neat
.r knew they were compet- to see a competition where you
a cause and not just a first, have other fellow students partic-
or third place." ipating," Joshi continued. "Bolly-
strive to really educate the wood is more up and coming and
s because they're our main more people are becoming famil-
ce at 150 people, so we can iar with it, it's a very modern style
lut to them and say, 'Hey of dance."
an issue'," Iyer said. "A lot In this balance between Indian
dancers are South Asian heritage and western culture,
ans so it's easy to say, 'It's Iyer and Joshi hope that Michi-
backyard, this is where we gan Mazzaa will set an example
rom, let's do something to for other South Asian American
difference.'" organizations at other universi-
r working with a large ties.
imed to fight the issue of "We built ourselves off of a
trafficking and sexual model," Iyer said. "I want this to
ation based in DC for the become a model for other cam-
ral A2 Dhoom, Mazzaa puses to build off from."

Afro-Cuban jazz
musicians to perform
at Michigan Theater
By GILLIAN JACOB
Community & Culture Editor
What do Eric Clapton, Quincy
Jones, Taj Mahal, Paul Simon,
Wynton Marsalis and Pink Floyd's
Roger Waters
all have in com- Alfredo
mon? They're Rodiguez
among the leg- R i
endary musi- Trio and
cians that came Pedrito
out to see The
Pedrito Mar- Martinez
tinez Group at Group
Guantanamera,
a little Cuban Friday, 8 p.m.
restaurant in
midtown Man- The Michigan
hattan where Theater
the group plays $20-$46
several times a
week. With that
much talent in the audience, you
have to believe there's something
special going down on stage.
And there is. The Pedrito Marti-
nez group comprises of four musi-
cians of virtuosic talent jamming
Cuban roots music out like the jazz
greats used to do to the American
standards. All four band members
trade high energy instrumental
solos, sing and harmonize, and
dance up a storm. Afro-Cuban jazz
has a strong history, but as anyone
coming out to the Michigan The-
ater Friday night will see, PMG no
es la Rumba de su madre.
On Friday night's double bill,
partofUniversityMusical Society's
winter season, The Pedrito Marti-
nez Group will take the stage after
the young Cuban pianist Alfredo
Rodriguez sets the tone with his
trio in his own exhilarating blend
of Latin and jazz. Rodriguez'
new album The Invasion Parade
co-produced by Quincy Jones,
features, among other powerful
artists, Pedrito Martinez himself.
That's just one example of the rich

constellation of collaborations that
Martinez has taken part in, includ-
ing one with Eddie Palmieri and
Bryan Lynch for which he won a
Grammy award in 2007.
Martinez was born in Havana,
Cuba, where he was grounded in
a folkloric and religious music tra-
dition, meeting and playing with
many ofthe greatCuban musicians.
In 2000, he came to New York. The
group is rounded out by percus-
sionist Jhair Sala from Peru, elec-
tric bassist Alvaro Benavides from
Venezuela, and keyboard player/
vocalist, Ariacne Trujillo, also from
Cuba.
"It's a very steady lineup - ithas
a lot of power in the combination of
the four individuals," said Paul Sie-
gel, the group'smanager.
Siegel explains why he so often
finds himself surrounded by leg-
endary musicians from all over the
world who've made it their busi-
ness night after night to come hear
the band play.
"They're four virtuosos, but
it's never about the technique; it's
never about the chops. Musicians
can do that sometimes for one
another, but it goes nowhere," Sie-
gel said. "They're moving people
because of the depth of what they
do."
PMG features the impressive
Ariacne Trujillo. She studiedclassi-
cal piano for 16years in Cuba's great
conservatories - while also sing-
ing and dancing at cabarets - and
then won a scholarship forclassical
composition to cometo the States.
"I'm always goingto sound clas-
sical - everything that I am - all
my techniques come from classical
training," Trujillo said. "I have alot
of influences like R&B, blues and
soul music. But when you hear me
play, classical music is there."
Martinez came to music the
opposite way.
"I never went to music school,
because in Cuba, at that time, to get
in, you needed a connection, some
clout, and I never had that kind of
connection," he said in a recent
interview. "But at the same time,
I'm happy with the way I learned

things on the street, because they
teach you things you can't learn in
school."
When the Pedrito Martinez
Group is not playing at Guantana-
mera, they are performing all over
the world. As a single mom, it can*
be a challenge for Trujillo tojuggle.
"It's hard to have the two things
that you love be music (as) your
career, and your kid ... He's seven
now and he loves everyone in the
group and he would love to go on
tour with me all the time; he's the
number one fan of the group. It's a
blessing that I can totally manage
both."
Larry Blumenfeld, who writes
about jazz for the Wall Street Jour-
nal, has a love for this music and
explains the power of the genre
today.
"Afro-Cuban music and Cuban
musicians have always been influ-
ential in the United States," Blu-
menfeld said. "Now, there is a new
generation of Cuban musicians
that is exploring its tradition and
its connections to the United States
innewways ... a generationthathas
created a revolution within that
context."
Sala and Benavides are vir-
tuosos in their own rights. Sala
often switches instruments with
Martinez, once his teacher, and
Benavides, a scholarship student
at Berkelee School of Music, has
worked with alternative, fusion
and free jazz bands, experiences
that shine through in his confident,
soaring solos. But the heart and
soul ofthe group is Martinez.
"He has the physical skills and
the magnetism to command any
audience," Blumenfeld said. "But
with this quartet that he's devel-
oped through years of weekly per-
formances at a small restaurant,
and at festivals and concert halls
around the world, he's created a
vehicle where he can share all the
depth of his Cuban tradition and
all the ambition as a modern musi-
cian."
You never know who you might
see in the audience of the Michigan
Theater Friday night...


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