{"id":1165,"date":"2016-03-19T12:08:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T16:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jazzinthegardens.com\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2016-11-21T12:08:51","modified_gmt":"2016-11-21T17:08:51","slug":"local-artists-shine-at-jazz-in-the-gardens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/2016\/local-artists-shine-at-jazz-in-the-gardens\/","title":{"rendered":"Local artists shine at Jazz in the Gardens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Big names like Usher, Janelle Monae and Babyface are expected to perform at the 11th annual\u00a0Jazz in the Gardens<\/a>, but two lucky South Florida singers \u2014 LaVie and April RaQuel \u2014 were chosen to perform on the same stage as the stars.<\/p>\n

Charline Murphy, also known as\u00a0LaVie<\/a>, which means \u201cthe life\u201d in French, says her music encompasses all of life. She was expected to perform Sunday.<\/p>\n

LaVie has been singing for 15 years and hasn\u2019t slowed down since. Inspired by the likes of Jill Scott and PJ Morton, her sound is influenced by R&B, pop and jazz.<\/p>\n

After applying four times, she was finally accepted into the festival on her fifth try. She credits God\u2019s divine timing for her luck, and she is scheduled to perform Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times we think we\u2019re ready for something, and there\u2019s still some more groundwork, some more growing, and some more learning to do,\u201d LaVie said. \u201cThe fact that now I get the opportunity means now is the time \u2014 and it\u2019s a perfect time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born and raised in North Miami to Haitian parents, LaVie says her family is her foundation. Her husband, Stephane Murphy \u2014 who is also her producer and musical director \u2014 was ecstatic to hear the news of her acceptance because he is her biggest supporter, she said. Together they write her music, and they recently released her latest single,\u00a0Alive.\u00a0<\/em>Its message: to stay grounded in the love of God and to have faith that everything will fall into place, no matter what tribulations life may throw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that I\u2019m not here by myself,\u201d LaVie said, adding that \u201ceverything around me was falling apart, and I still kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what that is, and it\u2019s God,\u201d she said. \u201cBut let\u2019s not dwell in the negative. Let\u2019s dwell in what\u2019s positive in our lives \u2014 as long as you encounter LaVie you\u2019re going to encounter love. Let\u2019s just enjoy life.\u201d<\/p>\n

RaQuel<\/a>\u00a0also knows about the power of timing.<\/p>\n

In 2006, RaQuel decided to return to Florida from Los Angeles, where she had worked in television, and she found her niche in urban, rock, soul and funk music.<\/p>\n

Blending all of those genres, she brings a unique element and sass to the stage, including instruments like bass, drums, keys, guitar and occasional horns.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, she played with her band\u00a0Kouture Funk<\/a>\u00a0and performed her original single\u00a0Nobody Does It Better<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest validation is being on the stage today at Jazz in the Gardens. This will be the first time I will have this level of production and to present my original music as the artist that I am. This is the biggest deal so far of my life,\u201d RaQuel said. \u201cIt raises the bar in every way, for me to take every detail as serious as possible. It\u2019s a great opportunity to set at a higher level my performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry Bradshaw, who has been coming to the concert series for the past 10 years, said he\u2019s excited to see these local artists perform this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good for their exposure. The little dogs need to hang out with the big dogs. You don\u2019t always want big-time people here,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cLet the little people come up, too. That\u2019s how the whole world should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow @cportjournalist on Instagram<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Click here for more of\u00a0<\/em>LaVie<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>April RaQuel<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Don\u2019t forget the sunscreen. Also, organizers suggest you budget extra time for parking because portions of the parking lots are off limits due to construction of a roof at Sun Life Stadium. While tickets are available on site, organizers advise you can also purchase them in advance online at\u00a0JazzintheGardens.com\u00a0<\/a>or through Ticketmaster. Remember to print them out.<\/p>\n

The doors open at 3 p.m. Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Big names like Usher, Janelle Monae and Babyface are expected to perform at the 11th annual\u00a0Jazz in the Gardens, but two lucky South Florida singers \u2014 LaVie and April RaQuel \u2014 were chosen to perform on the same stage as the stars. Charline Murphy, also…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jazzinthegardens.com\/firstact\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}