Bayfront Jazz Festival Miami: Roy Ayers | Dee Dee Bridgewater | Chucho Valdés | Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Aymée Nuviola | Mark Guiliana | April 30 - May 1

BAYFRONT JAZZ FESTIVAL 2021 

INAUGURAL EDITION TO KICK OFF MIAMI’S LIVE MUSIC EVENTS TO BRING BACK JOY

CELEBRATING JAZZ / AFRO-CUBAN / LATIN / ELECTRONIC MUSIC MASTERS

Roy Ayers, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Aymée Nuviola and Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music

ICONIC OPEN AIR FPL SOLAR AMPITHEATER HAPPENING 

ON UNESCO’S  INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY

PARTIAL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO HOSPITALS FIGHTING COVID-19

"Jazz is not just music, it is a way of life, it is a way of being, a way of thinking." – NINA SIMONE

"The story of Jazz is written into the quest for human dignity, democracy and civil rights. It has given strength to the struggle against discrimination and racism. UNESCO believes in the power of Jazz as a force for peace, dialogue and mutual understanding." – UNESCO/International Jazz Day

The 2021 inaugural edition of the Bayfront Jazz Festival will take over Miami's Bayfront Park for two magical days as Miami’s "Post-Covid recovery calendar" kicks off one of the first LIVE musical events on April 30 and May 1, 2021. The first Miami festival of its scale, Bayfront's mission is to honor and celebrate the current and future giants of Jazz, Afro-Cuban/Latin & Electronic music and for fans from the world over to enjoy music's greatest heroes and masters play with a real audience for the first time in over a year at a stunning, iconic Miami open air venue. The concerts will host 1500 people, rather than the usual 10G and will respect  all Covid-19 sanitary rules of social distancing.

Hosted by Melrose Media at the FPL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park in Miami, the Bayfront Jazz Festival will take place on the UNESCO International Jazz Day, intended to raise awareness of the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, and a force for empathy, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people.

FPL Solar Amphitheater

This year’s unique line-up includes Roy Ayers, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chucho Valdés, Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Aymée Nuviola and Mark Guiliana’s Beat Music who will be participating at the festival throughout 2 days of spiritual and joyful music.

The FPL Solar Amphitheater is situated in the middle of the Bayfront Park, directly on the Oceanfront. The Bayfront Park has 500-panel solar installation, including solar trees, which generates about 250 kilowatts of emissions-free energy – more than the power used during the Amphitheater’s concert season. 

Physical tickets can be purchased on Ticketmaster. An Internet ticketed livestream video will also be in place through EluvioLIVE allowing happy fans from the world to enjoy the Jazz musicians play in front of a real audience, which has not been possible for one year ! All payments will be accepted, including Crypto currencies to purchase the live streaming.

The livestream will be available on mobile, desktop, tablets,  Apple TV and Roku TV all in 4K.

Partial proceeds will be given to hospitals fighting Covid-19.

“Artists and audiences crave for live music in an outdoor venue and we had to fight to make that event happen. We took engagements with the venue and the City to protect our audience with masks, gels and social distancing,” said Manuel Molina, Managing director of Melrose Media. His co-producer Rozenberg added, “We wanted to bring back live jazz in the heart of the Miamians and feed their souls with iconic musicians vibes. There will only be 1500 happy people in the venue but everybody likes the sunshine. So everybody will be able to follow that hybrid event on a livestream”.  Molina wanted to add “We are so glad to put back on the map a new Jazz Festival, especially after the cultural chaotic Covid and bring back joy with live music.”

Bayfront Jazz Festival (30 April – 1 May 2021)

Tickets Bayfront Jazz Festival: via bayfrontjazz.com for the livestream and Ticketmaster.

Passes and vouchers are limited in number

FRIDAY 30 APRIL 2021- MAIN STAGE

9:30 PM: CHUCHO VALDES QUARTET

CHUCHO VALDÉS—PIANO

JOSE ARMANDO GOLA—BASS

DAFNIS PRIETO—DRUMS

ROBERTO VIZCAINO JR.—PERCUSSION

7:30 PM: ROY AYERS QUINTET

ROY AYERS—VIBES & VOCALS

MARK ADAMS—KEYBOARD

TREVOR ALLEN—BASS GUITAR

CHRISTOPHER DECARMINE—DRUMS

DASHILL SMITH—HORN

SATURDAY 1 MAY 2021 - MAIN STAGE

9:30 PM: DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER & THE MEMPHIS SOULPHONY

DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER—VOCALS

BARRY CAMPBEL— BASS

CHARLTON JOHNSON—GUITAR

BRYANT LOCKHART—SAX

CURTIS PULLIAM—TRUMPET

SKYLER JORDAN, MONET OWENS—BACKGROUND VOCALS

CARLOS SARGENT—DRUMS

FARINDELL "DELL" SMITH—KEYS & ORGAN

7:30 PM: GONZALO RUBALCABA & AYMEE NUVIOLA

GONZALO RUBALCABA—PIANO, SYNTHESIZERS AND PERCUSSION

AYMEE NUVIOLA—LEAD VOCALS

CRISTOBAL “EL PROFE” VERDECCHIA—BASS

REINIER GUERRA—DRUMS

NEIGER “MAJITO” AGUILERA—PERCUSSION

YANIER HORTA—SAXOPHONE 

LOURDES NUVIOLA—LEAD VOCALS AND BACKING VOCALS; 

ALFREDO LUGO—BACKING VOCALS

5:30 PM: MARK GUILIANA BEAT MUSIC

MARK GUILIANA —DRUMS AND ELECTRONICS

NICK SEMRAD —SYNTHESIZERS

CHRIS MORRISSEY —ELECTRIC BASS

Chucho Valdés Academy

Cuban Pianist and Composer Chucho Valdés

Opens his Online Music Academy

Before devoting himself entirely to a career in music as a pianist and composer, Chucho Valdés studied to become a teacher. His admiration for his uncle Emilio’s vocation, who was an important educator in Cuba, led him to attend teacher training school with the goal of becoming an educator. However, Valdés chose to play piano in the orchestra led by his father, the legendary Bebo Valdés, catapulting him into an influential career spanning more than six decades.

Years after taking those teaching classes, Chucho Valdés returns to his old passion for teaching.

Beginning March 15th, Valdés inaugurates his virtual music school, the Chucho Valdés Academy. He will offer piano and improvisation courses, as well as lectures filmed at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, on Cuban Music and Afro-Cuban Jazz. 

The first course offered by the Chucho Valdés Academy are pre-recorded lectures in which Valdés, in his casual, informal style, explains the history of modern Cuban piano and the art of improvisation. This initial course contains 14 lectures between 5 and 8 minutes each. The first 100 registrants will have the opportunity to participate in a talk via Zoom with Valdés, in groups of 10.

"For years, students and fans have been asking me to give classes and talks, but with touring and recording there was never time. I think the circumstances we live in, and the stage I am at in my career and life make this a great time to share my years of experience in music. I was fortunate to have one of the great masters of Cuban music, my father Bebo, who was a great pianist, composer and orchestra conductor, and since I was a child I had a privileged place to listen and learn this music directly from its best creators.” says Valdés.

Valdés continues "It's going to be a pleasure to be able to pass on not only what I learned with teachers like my beloved Zenaida Romeu or some of the great musicians with whom I have had the good fortune to share stages and recording studios, but also the lessons that I have been learning in all these years of playing and listening. Now I hope that those who come to the Academy will enjoy and learn as much by listening to these talks as I have enjoyed and learned preparing them."

Johann Zietsman, President and Executive Director of Arsht Center, celebrates the opening by emphasizing “Chucho is undoubtedly a globally impactful, living legend who carries the torch of Afro-Cuban music and has done so throughout his career. Chucho shares the Arsht Center’s commitment to connecting communities more profoundly through the arts and arts education Zietsman said.. We feel lucky and extremely proud to continue to collaborate with him for the launch of the Chucho Valdes Academy and many projects to come,”

To register visit www.chuchovaldesacademy.com

Chucho Valdés Academy

Registration Open: February 25, 2021

For more information, please visit:

chuchovaldesacademy.com | Facebook | Instagram

Arturo O’Farrill & Chucho Valdés - Familia: Tribute to Bebo + Chico (2017) CD 1

Pianists Arturo O'Farrill and Chucho Valdés celebrate their rich musical family legacies on 2017's ambitious, gloriously realized Familia: Tribute to Bebo & Chico.

Although they grew up on separate shores, O'Farrill in New York (via Mexico) and Valdés in Cuba, they both came of age in musical households as the sons of legendary Cuban bandleaders Chico O'Farrill and Bebo Valdés. 

Along with icons like Chano Pozo, Machito, and Dizzy Gillespie, the elder O'Farrill and Valdés were giants of Afro-Cuban music. Similarly, just as their fathers helped further the dissemination and creative development of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz, Arturo and Chucho are innovators in their own rights, with decades of experience playing both traditional Cuban music and ultra-modern jazz.

Impressively, they bring all that history to bear on Familia, a two-disc collection featuring songs composed by their fathers, as well as new compositions inspired by their lives growing up in such deeply artistic families. Joining them here are their equally talented children, including trumpeter Adam O'Farrill, drummer Zack O'Farrill, pianist Leyanis Valdés, and drummer Jessie Valdés. Also on board are the members of Arturo O'Farrill's own Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Disc one primarily features the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and finds O'Farrill and Valdés taking a more traditional, if still dazzling approach on cuts like the merengue-infused "BeboChicoChuchoTuro" and a lushly orchestrated reading of Bebo Valdés' "Ecuacion." Also compelling are the pianist's solo turns on Chico O'Farrill's "Pianitis" and O'Farrill's homage to his parents, "Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters," which features several sparkling cadenzas from pianist Leyanis Valdés.

Disc two showcases the smaller, post-bop-leaning Third Generations Ensemble, in which they explore the more progressive edges of Afro-Cuban jazz. Here, trumpeter (and third place finisher at the 2014 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition) Adam O'Farrill shines, revealing his knack for harmonically adventurous improvisation à la Woody Shaw on the kinetic and fractured "Run and Jump." Similarly, the trumpeter breathes new life into Chico O'Farrill's "Pura Emocion" framed by his father's taut, angular arrangement. Elsewhere, Zack O'Farrill contributes the expansive "Gonki Gonki" (his mother's way of describing the sound of rhythmic piano montunos) and Chucho offers the lushly virtuosic solo track "Para Chico." The sheer amount of virtuosity on display on Familia: Tribute to Bebo & Chico might well be overwhelming if the music itself weren't so warmly and beautifully rendered.

CD 1

1. BeboChicoChuchoTuro

2. Three Revolutions

3. Ecuación

4. Tema de Bebo

5. Pianitis

6. Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters

Arturo O’Farrill & Chucho Valdés - Familia: Tribute to Bebo + Chico (2017) CD 2

CD2

1. Run and Jump

2. Recuerdo

3. Gonki Gonki

4. Pura Emoción

5. Para Chico

6. Con Poco Coco

7. Raja Ram