22 Mar JITG’s grooves and vibes
Two stages, non-stop music, and a vibe that absolutely could not be matched was the 17th Annual Jazz In The Gardens Music Fest. The outstanding lineup of R&B, hip-hop, gospel, and afrobeats artists unfolded over two days with music from both established and emerging talents.
From legends like Babyface and Maxwell to the newer generation featuring Davido and Pheelz, and everyone in between – Ms. Fantasia and Kirk Franklin- we saw you and, of course, The Bahamas’ own Sweet Emily, the two-day music festival was an outstanding lineup of R&B, hip hop, gospel, and afrobeats.
Babyface was on fire and brought the house down early Sunday afternoon on day two at Hard Rock Stadium that featured a grown and sexy lineup of R&B and hip-hop artists, with his legendary sounds. For more than an hour, the multi-Grammy winning singer/songwriter/producer delivered hit song after hit song from his storied career, as well as others such as the late Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown and Toni Braxton.
Neo-soul legend Maxwell, who in my books is known as the crooner, delivered fan favorite romantic single “This Woman’s Work” to uptempo numbers like “Lake By the Ocean”.
Every artist absolutely owned the stage for their set.
Soul-stirring heartfelt, old-school vocals were delivered by October London while Marsha Ambrosius brought her trademark neo-soul sound to the show with her rich, smoky vocals.
Tamia ran through fan-favorites from her catalog, of course, opening her set with “Stranger in My House,” dropped “So Into You” and “Leave It On the Floor.”
To be honest, every artist that hit the City of Miami Gardens stage, delivered.
Kirk Franklin took the audience to church as he delivered the spirit to the show with his gospel performance that had the crowd on its feet; he didn’t seem to want to leave the stage when his time had run out. And of course, Ms. Fantasia showed up and showed out. And she displayed why she should never be counted out. She brought an A game performance to the stage.
DJ Cassidy had one of the most fun sets of the festival with his “Pass the Mic Liv” segment which saw him pass the mic to a lineup of hip-hop icons – Uncle Luke, Too $hort, Lil Kim and T.I. which made for a delightful throwback.
Omarion and Tink both delivered sets that proved to be audience favorites to kick off the two-day festival, and DJ Nasty set the tone for the local Miami crowd with an epic “Welcome to Miami” set that featured appearances from Rick Ross, Trina, and Trick Daddy aka the “Mayor of Miami.” And of course, the Bahamian Queen of Junkanoo, Sweet Emily, represented for The Bahamas and held her own. And Jaheim seduced with classic R&B ballads.
With a stacked two days of fantastic performances, Saturday night also featured Jasmine Sullivan’s powerful vocals and afrobeats from Davido and Pheelz. On night one which ran past the bewitching hour, Summer Walker took to the stage at 12:30 a.m., for her intimate set, showcasing her vulnerable lyrics and sultry vocals. Her set included a wardrobe change and a surprise artist in Fat Joe, who dropped a few of his classic hits.
The Black Promoters Collective put together an amazing festival.
Two stages, non-stop music, and a vibe that absolutely could not be matched. Bahamians in attendance agreed.
“This year was my best year ever – besides the year Lionel Ritchie performed,” said Amanda Curling, a Nassau Guardian and Star 106.5 FM hits JITG promotion winner.
“This was the most people I ever saw at JITG,” said the multi-year festival attendee. “We had to walk from Walmart on 199th to get to the show. Fantasia had everyone out of their seat and Kirk Franklin was good. Most of the artists were good, but the highlight for me was Sunday with DJ Cassidy he really passed that mic. I hope they can top this next year because the artists were on point,” said Curling.
Sloan Smith who attended her second JITG music festival described it as an “exciting experience.”
“I had the opportunity to see great performances from my favorite artists like Summer Walker, Jazmine Sullivan, Fantasia and Davido. The gospel segment with Kirk Franklin took the whole festival to church. It was such an amazing experience, but what I enjoyed the most was proudly seeing Sweet Emily perform all her Bahamian hits and more to a crowd of Floridians – many with Bahamian roots. I was overjoyed to see the response from the crowd. I would definitely return for another year,” she said.