The event on Thursday evening was a preview of the Lotus Festival, which will occur Sept. 24-27.
The festival features 27 artists from 22 countries.
Reed focused on a selection of artists in his lecture and on the culture and history of the music.
Reed said globalization is a major influence at the world music festival.
Moments of interaction between various cultures throughout history have created new art forms, including the music that will be performed at the Lotus Festival.
Throughout a power point presentation, Reed played the music of various artists who will be performing at this year’s festival.
He also explained the backgrounds and cultures of the artists and their musical styles.
Reed said the groups at the festival range from those who mix many different genres to those whose goal is to preserve traditional music styles.
“There’s no such thing as pure music,” Reed said. “There’s no such thing as music that hasn’t changed.”
He spoke about artists such as Aziz Sahmaoui & University of Gnawa, a group that plays music from Morocco.
People who came to Morocco as slaves from sub-Saharan Africa influenced the music.
The group involves musical styles such as distinctive clapping, Reed said.
“Clapping is underrated,” Reed said, as he demonstrated a type of clapping used in the music.
Another musician who fuses styles is Ester Rada, an Israeli musician born to Ethiopian parents who blends an Ethiopian form of jazz with vocals influenced by funk and soul.
Maria Zeringue, a graduate student studying folklore at IU, said she is only familiar with one of the groups in the lineup, an experimental pop band called the tUnE-yArDs.
However, she said she was looking forward to learning about the others.
“The cultural context behind the music is interesting to me,” Zeringue said.
Reed said it’s useful for people to understand the universality of the music before attending the Lotus Festival.
Knowing the meaning and culture behind the music is an enriching experience, he said.
His love for the event is shown by his large collection of T-shirts from festivals throughout the years, which Reed said he kept even after they turn to rags.
Reed said the Lotus Festival is one of his favorite parts of his life.
“It’s like a musical buffet full of world music,” he said.
