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.<\/p>\n
From legends like Babyface and Maxwell to the newer generation featuring Davido and Pheelz, and everyone in between \u2013 Ms. Fantasia and Kirk Franklin- we saw you and, of course, The Bahamas\u2019 own Sweet Emily, the two-day music festival was an outstanding lineup of R&B, hip hop, gospel, and afrobeats.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Neo-soul legend Maxwell, who in my books is known as the crooner, delivered fan favorite romantic single \u201cThis Woman\u2019s Work\u201d to uptempo numbers like \u201cLake By the Ocean\u201d.<\/p>\n
Every artist absolutely owned the stage for their set.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Tamia ran through fan-favorites from her catalog, of course, opening her set with \u201cStranger in My House,\u201d dropped \u201cSo Into You\u201d and \u201cLeave It On the Floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be honest, every artist that hit the City of Miami Gardens stage, delivered.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
DJ Cassidy had one of the most fun sets of the festival with his \u201cPass the Mic Liv\u201d segment which saw him pass the mic to a lineup of hip-hop icons \u2013 Uncle Luke, Too $hort, Lil Kim and T.I. which made for a delightful throwback.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cWelcome to Miami\u201d set that featured appearances from Rick Ross, Trina, and Trick Daddy aka the \u201cMayor of Miami.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
With a stacked two days of fantastic performances, Saturday night also featured Jasmine Sullivan\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The Black Promoters Collective put together an amazing festival.<\/p>\n
Two stages, non-stop music, and a vibe that absolutely could not be matched. Bahamians in attendance agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year was my best year ever \u2013 besides the year Lionel Ritchie performed,\u201d said Amanda Curling, a Nassau Guardian and Star 106.5 FM hits JITG promotion winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the most people I ever saw at JITG,\u201d said the multi-year festival attendee. \u201cWe 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,\u201d said Curling.<\/p>\n
Sloan Smith who attended her second JITG music festival described it as an \u201cexciting experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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 \u2013 many with Bahamian roots. I was overjoyed to see the response from the crowd. I would definitely return for another year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n