The annual City of Miami Gardens Jazz in the Gardens music festival formula for success is simple -- a stellar line-up, great foods, affordable ticket prices and amazing weather. And in exactly four months to the day, the lights will go up on the stage for the 9th Annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival at Sun Life Stadium, a popular event for Bahamians, and just yesterday the names of the first five of nine headliners were announced.
Artists expected to take to the City of Miami Gardens stage, March 15-16, 2014, include Rachelle Ferrell, Trey Songz, Kelly Rowland, Boney James and Mint Condition. But this is just the first round. Nine headliners will be announced in the coming weeks in advance of the popular South Florida spring weekend festival.
Contemporary jazz singer Rachelle Ferrell, who missed last year's show at Sun Life Stadium due to a last minute illness, will return. Ferrell is unquestionably one of the most dynamic talents in contemporary pop music. She has a potent combination of range, phrasing and musicianship.
She first emerged in the States with her R&B debut "Rachelle Ferrell", a solid collection of self-penned originals that featured a striking duet with Will Downing ("Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This"). It was with the release of "First Instrument" in 1994 (recorded prior to "Rachelle Ferrell") that audiences were really introduced to Ferrell's jazz sensibilities.
International superstar and one of R&B's brightest stars, Trey Songz, has created a body of work that is a true testament to who he is, where he's been and where he's going.
He has an ability to seamlessly create music that blurs the line between R&B and hip-hop, while still creating songs that evoke emotions and vary in subject matters -- songs that appreciate women, songs for the club, songs that chronicle the highs and lows of relationships and of course, songs for the bedroom.
His body of work includes hits like "Bottoms Up", "Dive In", "Say Aah", "Simply Amazing", "The Way You Move", "Jupiter Love", "Holla If Ya Need Me", "Hail Mary", "Check Me Out" and "Never Again".
Kelly Rowland has a long list of accomplishments and accolades under her belt, and she shows no signs of slowing down. The Grammy Award-winning multiplatinum superstar who will take to the Jazz in The Gardens stage is at her most revealing on her fourth full-length solo album "Talk A Good Game". She's undoubtedly playing to win. And she's raised the bar this time around with a record that straddels the line between raw R&B and seductive pop with a healthy dose of swaggering hip-hop thrown in for good measure. The album arrives hot on the heels of her critically acclaimed chart-topping third offering "Here I Am".
Rowland elevated pop R&B to stratospheric heights as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling groups of all time. Throughout her solo career, Rowland hasn't stopped churning out hits either. Her powerhouse vocals reverberated potently through "Simply Deep" and "Ms. Kelly". She's also accrued a timeless catalog of her own songs including the Grammy Award-winning "Dilemma" featuring Nelly, "Like This" featuring Eve, "Stole", "Breathe Gentle" featuring Tiziana Fero and "When Love Takes Over" featuring David Guetta.
Three-time Grammy nominee Boney James has returned with a dynamic, genre-busing album "The Beat". One of the most successful instrumental artists of his time, James' new project fuses his R&B/Jazz roots with Latin rhythm and percussion and it's this kind of music that he will showcase at the festival.
Once upon a time there were great funk R&B bands like Earth, Wind & Fire; The Meters; War, Kook & The Gang; Slave and numerous others who constantly broke down musical barriers. The musicality of these units was superior, they could rock or funk out as easily as they could move the crowd with a tenor soulful ballad. The rise of electronic music gradually undermined self-contained bands, but in the 90s a dynamic young new band emerged -- Mint Condition, now the greatest self-contained R&B band of our time. Mint Condition does it all -- delivering hard-bitten funk with a hip hop edge, rocking out with screaming lead guitar and crooning lush "baby-making" soul ballads. The much sought after band, who mark their 20th anniversary this year has amassed a string of hits and performs hundreds of live shows each year.
Their first single, a New Jack Swing-styled number had only modest success, but it was a ballad. "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes) has become one of the classic R&B ballads and was their breakthrough. Further hit singles and albums followed with "U Send Me Swingin", "Some To Love", "So Fine", "What Kind of Man Would I be" and "You Don't Have to Hurt No More".
In addition to the two-day festival, Friday, March 14, 2014, will kick off the concert weekend with the Women's Impact Conference and Luncheon and an evening pre-party with live celebrity entertainment.
The ninth spring festival will be hosted by D.L. Hughley, one of the most popular and highly recognized standup comedians on the road today who has made an impression in the television, film and radio arenas.
"If you think the last Jazz in the Gardens was amazing, wait until you see this year. Between me hosting, Rachelle Ferrell coming back and the other hot talent being featured, this is going to be the one people talk about. We haven't even started and this party is already looking good. I'm happy to be on the JITG team," said Hughley.
Tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. for the 9th Annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival at Sun Life Stadium at www.ticketmaster.com and The Sun Life Stadium box office. But stay tuned to The Nassau Guardian and Star 106.5 FM for ways you can win in the upcoming weeks ahead of the concert.
In 2013, more than 63,000 fans attended the 8th Annual Jazz in the Gardens festival. For the past eight years the festival has enjoyed unprecedented growth, consistently delivering stunning increases in attendance while attracting both locals and thousands of out-of-towners, including many Bahamians to the beautiful City of Miami Gardens.
And of course The Nassau Guardian Media Group, Star 106.5 FM and Hot 91.7 FM along with its partner Bahamasair and GoGo Florida the representative for Thrifty/Dollar and the main host hotel StayBridge Suites will hook up Bahamians with tickets, airfare, hotel stays and transportation as it has been doing for many of the previous festivals -- so keep reading and listening, because you could be one of the lucky ones.
o For more information about "Jazz in the Gardens", visit www.jazzinthegardens.com; facebook.com/jazzinthegardens, twitter.com/jazzgardens, IG @ JITG9.
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