Photo by George Pruitt
Audio By Carbonatix
We all need more jazz in our lives, and for ten years now, the organizers of South Beach Jazz Festival have set out to deliver. “We’re bringing four days of jazz all over Miami Beach,” Lori Bakkum, Executive Director of the Festival, told New Times. “We have a variety that represents the full swath of jazz. A lot of jazz festivals transcend to other genres. We try to stick with jazz.”
Founder David New began the Jazz Festival with the thought of creating an event on Miami Beach that would be accessible to everyone. Twenty-five years ago, New lost his eyesight, hearing, and found himself paralyzed. While his hearing and ability to walk returned, New found a passion and empathy towards putting on events that are inclusive for people society deems disabled. “I love jazz, and I thought this could create more opportunities to include the disabled,” New said.
Part of that inclusiveness is making as much of the music as possible free to attend. “We do have some ticketed events, but those help pay for the free programming,” Bakkum explains. Some of the free events include an 8 p.m. Friday night concert at Collins Park, featuring Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra, according to the press release, which will perform a blend of “classic big-band tradition with contemporary jazz expression.” Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Euclid Circle on Lincoln Road will be dedicated to young jazz musicians with performances by student ensembles from the Jazz Education Community Coalition (JECC), Young Musicians Unite, and the Miami Lighthouse. Finally, Sunday on Lincoln Road from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. will feature The Spirit of Goodwill Band, Lemon City Trio, The Harden Project, Federico Britos Quintet, Spam Allstars, and a finale performance by Gafieira Rio Miami featuring Nestor Torres.
There are, as mentioned, also ticketed events, including Thursday night at the Faena, featuring guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli. Saturday night at the Miami Beach Bandshell will feature the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Oscar Hernandez, the bandleader and pianist of the 13-piece New York-based act, put on a convincing case for why everyone should drop all their plans Saturday night to attend, claiming, “We protect the amazing history and legacy of Salsa music. This is the music I heard coming out of every window growing up in the South Bronx.”
Hernandez first started the Spanish Harlem Orchestra 25 years ago when a producer called him to redo some old Salsa songs. Hernandez liked what he created and kept the band going through the 21st century, winning three Grammys along the way. “Spanish Harlem was such an important part of Latin music from the 1950s on. It’s New York’s Little Havana. We pay tribute by playing New York hardcore Salsa before it got commercialized. We live in the 1970s when it was authentic. We have really high-level musicianship and arrangements,” Hernandez said, before closing with one final boast, “We’ve never had a bad show. People are always on their feet.”
That’s the kind of magic New and Bakkum hope to create with each and every Jazz Festival. They say they never know which show will take audiences to another level. Last year, the highlight was supposed to be Eddie Palmieri’s last-ever performance. But the New York pianist was too sick to travel with an illness that took his life months later. With only a couple of weeks’ notice, South Beach Jazz Festival had to do like a jazz player and improvise. “People Eddie mentored came and performed on his behalf. Eddie stayed at home and was able to watch it on a live stream, which was really a magical night,” Bakkum remembered.
South Beach Jazz Festival. Thursday, January 8, through Sunday, January 11, at various locations; sobejazzfestival.com. Ticket prices vary.
