Since debuting in 2017, the multiday festival has earned a favorable reputation as one of South Florida's premier events for jazz fusion and world music performances thanks to exceptionally diverse artist lineups curated by cofounders Michael League of Snarky Puppy and GroundUp CEO Paul Lehr. Over the years, the pair has successfully introduced countless artists from other countries and cultures to their attendees.
"We now have a reputation where people put their trust in us and understand what they're going to get is something that will open their eyes," Lehr told New Times back in 2022. "They're going to discover new artists they've never heard of who are now their favorites in their playlists."
This year's festival returns to the Miami Beach Bandshell, followed by late-night shows at ZeyZey in Little Haiti.
League and Lehr have assembled a lineup that will feature the first collaborative performance between prominent Cuban rumba acts Los Muñequitos de Matanza and Afrocuba de Matanzas, the U.S. debut of Mexican singer/bassist Fuensanta, Miami native and jazz saxophonist Marcus Strickland with his band Twi-Life, and Portuguese fado singer Gisela Joāo, in addition to many others.
Snarky Puppy will again serve as the house band, performing all three nights, and acclaimed jazz singer and flutist Elena Pinderhughes will be the festival's artist-at-large.
Local jazz aficionados might remember Pinderhughes, as she was a YoungArts Gold Award recipient in the jazz voice category as part of the Miami-based foundation's annual showcase event in 2013.
"Elena is basically the brightest star in the world of jazz on flute," Michael League tells New Times via Zoom from Argentina, where he's been working leading up to the festival. "She's an extremely virtuosic and versatile flute player and also singer and composer."
He's also eager to share his excitement for the collaboration between Los Muñequitos de Matanza and Afrocuba de Matanzas, two pioneering Cuban rumba groups that formed in the 1950s and remain active to this day. "They're the longest-running bands in rumba, and two of the original bands in rumba, and culturally, musically and artistically, the two most important bands in the history of rumba," League emphasizes about the significance of these two iconic Latin music groups joining forces on his stage. "It's a very exciting thing and an honor for us to have that at our festival."
League proposed the idea of the two entities performing together following a successful collaboration in the studio in early 2023 when League was producing a record featuring both bands.
"Getting them to come together to do this performance was not hard because they had already proven that they could work together and make beautiful music," he says of the process. "At the beginning, it was a little difficult. I had to go to the houses of the leaders from each band and explain to them the idea and dissuade any doubts they may have, but they were both very receptive."
Fuensanta is another international artist on the lineup set to make her U.S. debut at the festival. The Mexican singer and double bass player released her EP, Principio del Fuego, through GroundUp Music in 2023, which was co-produced by Knower drummer Louis Cole, who's also playing at this year's event.
"I was really blown away by her ingenuity and her uniqueness as a composer and bandleader and visualizer of music," League recalls about his first impressions of Fuensanta.
Currently based out of Amsterdam, Fuensanta incorporates Mexican folk elements into her eclectic songwriting style. She knew she wanted to be a singer by age 13 and learned to play stand-up bass just a few years later when vocal nodules forced her to take a break from singing.
"I thought the bass looked really fun," Fuensanta tells New Times. "I always loved how rich it is and how much it can be a part of a collective expression in music, and it has an impact in the rhythm and the harmony."
A multidisciplinary creative, Fuensanta describes her performance style as "pretty emotional."
"I for sure have a lot of influences from the Latin American folklore music that I've grown up with, but also there's this contemporary or experimental aspect to it," she adds.
Fuensanta will also perform at GroundUp's late-night show at ZeyZey on Sunday on a billing that includes Mali ngoni player Bassekou Kouyate and drummer Nikki Glaspie, who will host a jam set to close the festival.
In addition to showcasing several international artists, this year's event also includes a performance from Marcus Strickland, one of Miami's premier exports in the world of jazz. Strickland, a Miami native who gained prominence as a jazz saxophonist out of the New York City scene starting in the 1990s, will perform on Sunday with his band Twi-Life.
Jazz musician Marcus Strickland is also a professor at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.
Photo by Petra Richterova
The experience of going from a lighted stage to the professor's pulpit has also empowered Strickland to reexamine his learning abilities that he may not have realized as a young musician.
"It's interesting, you start to understand what kind of student you were," he adds. "Were you a good student? Were you a diligent student? What is your work ethic? I started learning all that about myself through through the reflection of the students that I have."
Now three years into his professor role, Strickland says many students have informed him they've enrolled in the program because of their desire to study under him.
Strickland will also share his academic wisdom on the healing powers of music as part of the festival's workshops and masterclass series for attendees. "That's something that I really started to understand when I went on tour with a trumpet player by the name of Tom Harrell," Strickland recalls of his time spent around the renowned jazz trumpeter who famously has schizophrenia. "When he's off the trumpet, I see how much he suffers from that," Strickland explains. "But as soon as he gets on that trumpet, all the distractions go away, his focus is clear, and he plays some of the most beautiful music you've ever heard. Seeing that when I toured with him was very moving. I started to understand just how important music is."
As for the rest of the weekend, Strickland points out many of his friends are playing throughout the festival, and he'd like to catch as many of their performances as possible.
"It's going to be quite a fun-packed weekend," Strickland adds. "I really love what [Snarky Puppy] is doing with this."
GroundUp Music Festival 2024. 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, February 2; 2 to 11 p.m. Saturday, February 3; and 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday, February 4; at the Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; groundupmusicfestival.com. Tickets cost $109 to $845 via tixr.com.
GroundUp Music Festival Late Night Shows. Midnight to 4 a.m. Friday, February 2, and Saturday, February 3; and 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday, February 4; at ZeyZey, 353 NE 61st St., Miami; groundupmusicfestival.com. Tickets cost $65 to $180 via tixr.com.
