Pinecrest Gardens has an outstanding lineup of stellar performers for the 2015-16 Jazz Season. The lineup includes Grammy Award winning musicians and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters. Known as South Florida’s Cultural Park, Pinecrest Gardens is nestled in 20-acres of botanical gardens and winding paths, with a 500-seat amphitheater under a geodesic dome providing state of the art acoustics and sound.
Through the generosity of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, along with special funding from title sponsor South Motors, four of our 2016 Jazz Series artists also will participate in a special Gen-Next Jam session – a music mentorship program on Sunday afternoons following their Saturday concert. Branford Marsalis, Carmen Lundy, Vinicius Cantuaria and Doc Severinsen will mentor a group of gifted jazz students from the New World School of the Arts High School under the direction of Jim Gasior. This is a unique opportunity to learn from and play with these extraordinary professionals on the Banyan Bowl stage. This workshop series is free and open to the general public, and to other students for observation. The 2015-16 Jazz Season was curated by Maurice Orlando Montoya, president of MM Music Agency.
OCT. 24, ED CALLE PRESENTS MAMBLUE: THE 305 ALL-STAR BIG BAND —
Calle is known for his extraordinary ability to play bebop, Latin and contemporary jazz and pop. Calle can be heard on hundreds of recordings, both as a sideman and soloist. He appears on Grammy Award winning albums by Frank Sinatra, Vicky Carr, Arturo Sandoval and Jon Secada, as well as on numerous television and motion picture soundtracks. Celebrate his latest album launch with his big band on the Banyan Bowl Stage.
Calle might be the most recorded saxophone player in the world, and like the most versatile. — Michael Brecker.
NOV. 7, AN EVENING WITH BRANFORD MARSALIS —
In his first appearance at the South Motors Jazz Series, National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master and renowned three-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis brings his extraordinary quartet for an evening of sizzling hot jazz. One of the most revered instrumentalists of his time, Branford has led a dizzying array of jazz ensembles from big bands to quartets and has been a frequent soloist with classical ensembles. He has performed with many of the jazz giants, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollin; composed the soundtrack to Mo’Better Blues; and was the original bandleader for the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Live jazz simply doesn’t get any better than when Branford and his innovative group take the stage.
DEC. 12, MARIA RIVAS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS —
Maria Rivas skillfully combines American and Latin Jazz rhythms with both lively and sentimental music from around the world. She interprets her music in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese and performs her own blend of traditional standards. Maria’s unique sound is an intoxicating combination of classic American jazz, pop and blues with just the right splash of Latin accents. She has performed to rave reviews before large audiences in North America, Europe (including the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival), Latin America and Asia.
Hailed by Latin Grammy winner Oscar de Leon as “one of the finest singers on the world stage today, truly a tremendous talent” she performs a wonderful holiday concert guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser for all.
JAN. 9, LOSTON HARRIS SINGS THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK —
For more than a decade Loston has headlined at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan’s Upper East Side along with cabaret and jazz greats that included Bobby Short, Eartha Kitt, Elaine Stritch and John Pizzarelli. His list of CDs launched with rave reviews and his fifth release, Swingfully Yours, features swinging arrangements of timeless standards from the Great American Songbook. Loston has toured and recorded with jazz superstars Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Roberts. Frank Sinatra, Bobby Short and Nat King Cole can rest comfortably knowing thatLoston Harris is keeping the flame alive.
Loston is a singular sensation of what music is in New York and all over the world. He is fantastic. There is nobody like him. — John Pizzarelli
FEB. 13, CARMEN LUNDY QUINTET —
Carmen Lundy began her professional career in Miami as a jazz vocalist and composer when there were very few young, gifted and aspiring jazz vocalists on the horizon. Four decades later, Lundy is celebrated throughout the world for vocal artistry and jazz innovation. Her 14th album Soul to Soul features all original compositions and has been met with great fanfare. She travels to our stage from Los Angeles along with her world renowned quintet for an evening of some of the best jazz this city will ever hear.
Carmen Lundy, a beguiling and outstanding vocalist, has retained her luster over a decades-long career. — New Yorker Magazine
MARCH 12, VINICIUS CANTUARIA QUINTET PLAYS JOBIM —
The graceful Brazilian guitarist and singer Vinicius Cantuária, whose professional career began as a composer and drummer with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil among others, moved to New York in 1994 and became immersed in a downtown scene that found him mixing it up with musicians as varied as Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson and Brad Mehldau, as well as leading his own contemporary Brazilian jazz bands. For the past year or so, he has been living most of the time “here at my house in Rio and on airplanes” says Cantuária. This wonderful quintet will perform a mix of songs by the prolific composer Antonio Jobim that will include classics like Chega de Saudade, A Felicidade and Girl from Ipanema.
Cantuaria is the doyen of Brazilian singer-songwriters, more melodic than Caetano Veloso, more consistent than Gilberto Gil and with more talent than Max de Castro, Otto and Patricia Marx put together. — John Walters.
APRIL 9, DOC SEVERINSEN & THE NEW WORLD SCHOOL OF THE ARTS JAZZ BAND
“Heeeeeeeere’s Johnny!” That lead-in followed by a big band trumpet blast was the landmark of late night television for three decades. The “Johnny” was Johnny Carson, the announcer was Ed McMahon and the bandleader was the great Doc Severinsen. A Grammy winner, Severinsen has made more than 30 albums, from big band to jazz-fusion to classical. Today, Severinsen has not lost his flair for the outrageous fashion statement or his trademark wit. But his gregarious nature has never interfered with the fact that he has been one of the greatest trumpeters and musicians of the last 60 years, respected in the worlds of classical music, jazz and big band, and in the end has transcended his celebrity and rejoiced in his remarkable ability to simply play his trumpet. Subscriptions are available on line at pinecrestgardens.org or through the ticket agency at 877-496-8499.
Subscriptions are now being sold for the seven performance series for $155 and $130. Dinner and drinks are available before all jazz performances and at intermission. Tickets for individual concerts will be available after Labor Day.
