By Vic Cox

Termed a “modern Renaissance man” by critics and his own Web site <www.oliverlake.net>, Oliver Lake is a jazz musician, composer, author, painter, and artistic entrepreneur, among various activities. The saxophonist and flautist will begin a six-day residency at UCSB on Thursday, Feb. 22, with a free public performance—a 7:30 p.m. master class for advanced jazz combos in the Old Little Theater.

Lake, who grew up in St. Louis and began drawing and playing drums as a teen-ager, is on a guest residency sponsored by the College of Creative Studies, the Department of Black Studies, and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center. He is scheduled to have his composer’s hat on for an informal public talk on Friday, Feb. 23, at 2:30 p.m. in the Old Little Theater, and to speak more broadly about his life as a creative person on Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. in the same venue.

If this one-man tour de force is not enough, Black History Month will also climax on and off campus the latter part of this month. Many of the events are detailed on this issue’s calendar page, but what follows is an overview:

The Santa Barbara African Heritage Film Series (SBAHFS) continues to present thoughtful and often provocative films with the Thursday, Feb. 22, screening of “From Swastika to Jim Crow” at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Other films on Feb. 24 at the Fiesta Five Theatre blend black and Latino themes. Details and ticket information for the series can be found on the Web at <www.sbahfs.org> or by calling 899-1160.

The UCSB MultiCultural Center (MCC) and SBAHFS co-sponsor a free film and reception on Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. when they screen “Freedom Never Dies—The Legacy of Harry T. Moore.” Call 899-1160 for details.

Other on-campus events include a screening and discussion of “One Love” on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the MCC, and “Slanguages,” a hip-hop theater production on Feb. 27 at Campbell Hall that requires tickets. Call x3535 for details.

This month also witnesses the official opening of the Student Affairs Division’s Educational Opportunity Program African Diasporic Cultural Resource Center on Friday, Feb. 23, at noon. The center is in the new Student Resource Building on the west edge of campus. While the reception closes out UCSB’s Black History Month activities, it also marks a milestone in the division’s decades-long quest for a home for most of its disparate offices and programs.