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British Jazz Series Manager Reflects On The UK Vote To Leave The EU

John Ellson
Randy Gorbman
/
WXXI News
John Ellson

The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival is underway , with thousands of people expected to attend that event over the next several days. One part of the festival is tied to a major worldwide news story. 

The jazz festival has an amazing array of musical styles and acts, everything from major recording artists, to buskers on the street trying to get a little recognition and maybe make a little money. 

But the Made in the UK series, which features musicians from Britain, is obviously a timely collection of music with so many people reflecting on the vote in the UK this week to withdraw from the European Union.

John Ellson manages the collection of those groups, and he has an  historical connection to the European Union controversy.  He says that when he was a young man in the mid 1970s, he worked on a similar campaign, a successful one in that case, to keep Britain in the European Union.

“I worked on the campaign to go into Europe with the likes of Margaret Thatcher just before she was elected, who was very pro-European and some of the major politicians of the time. So it was a great privilege and we won the argument. This time around, the argument's been stained, it's been threatening, and I think people have reacted to that.”

Ellson says personally he would have liked Britain to stay in the EU, but he understands why a majority of voters rejected that idea.

"It's been such a negative campaign by the “remain in Europe “ group, and a lot of scare tactics and people aren't fooled anymore by that and I think people stood up to it, and it's a shame, it's a great shame, but on the other hand, that's what the vote was."

Ellson does not feel the turmoil in financial markets will turn into long term economic problems.

The jazz festival feature about 325 concerts including more than 90 free shows. It runs through July 2nd.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.