The Jazz Roots festival at the Adrienne Arsht Center is Miami’s most high-profile celebration of jazz music. With Frost School of Music Dean Shelton G. Berg as the festival’s artistic director, it is also a showcase for Frost School's values of renewing tradition, musical exploration, and the school’s stellar ensembles.
All will be displayed when Jazz Roots kicks off on Nov. 1 with Sarah Vaughan: A Sassy Centennial, celebrating the foundational jazz singer’s 100th birthday and featuring GRAMMY-winning singers Patti Austin and Lisa Fischer and trumpeter Randy Brecker. As always with the Jazz Roots opener, they’ll be backed by the Frost School’s Henry Mancini Institute (HMI) Orchestra in a scripted show created by the Frost School, with HMI Fellows and faculty writing the arrangements.
But this will not simply be a nostalgic recreation of the legendary singer nicknamed “Sassy” and “The Divine One,” who, along with Ella Fitzgerald, largely defined female jazz vocals in the 20th century. Instead, Berg says, this only-in-Miami concert will showcase Vaughan’s artistic range and continued importance, as they’ve done in similar Jazz Roots programs celebrating the likes of George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.
“We wanted to shine a light on the breadth of her career because that allows us to put together such an engaging program,” said Berg. “To show the music is completely relevant today.”
The HMI Orchestra will play selections from a Vaughan album of Mancini songs. Berg notes that Patti Austin “grew up around Sarah Vaughn; she knew these singers as a child. So she brings that personal experience and authenticity… that is really important for a show like this.” Lisa Fischer, a legendary backup singer key to the sound of artists ranging from Luther Vandross to Tina Turner to the Rolling Stones, has also recorded with Yo-Yo Ma and Lang Lang and had a significant jazz and theater career. Arrangements for Fischer's numbers were shaped to allow “one of the greatest singers of our time to shine in her own way and not be constrained by some other template.”
Famed trumpeter Randy Brecker will re-create Vaughan’s collaborations with instrumentalists, like her record with jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown. The show also features Tyreek McDole, winner of the 2023 Sarah Vaughan vocal competition, the second man to do so, on duets like those Vaughan did with male singers like Joe Williams.
“What you want is to have the music be as vibrant and in the moment as it would have been with Sarah Vaughan,” Berg said. “The only way to do that is to let everybody be themselves."
The third Jazz Roots program, Jason Moran Performs the Music of Duke Ellington: My Heart Sings, in March, was created at the pianist and composer’s request. “I’ve long wanted Jason Moran to do something with Jazz Roots,” said Berg. “He wanted to do a Duke Ellington project with a big band, so our Frost Jazz Orchestra will play that with him.”
The series’ other two concerts feature great Cuban jazz artists revered in Miami. In February, the Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet is led by the seminal Cuban pianist and bandleader who’s become a regular Arsht Center collaborator. They’ll play music from Valdés’ latest album, “Cuba & Beyond.” In April, the fourth and final concert is Arturo Sandoval: A Master of Afro-Cuban Jazz, with the singularly virtuosic, hard-swinging trumpet player. Cuban-born drummer and Frost School faculty Dafnis Prieto’s Sí o Sí Quartet will open the show.
“Chucho and Arturo are both icons of the music here,” said Berg. “Each had things they were touring we thought would be great for Miami audiences.” He is proud to have showcased their achievements on Jazz Roots last season in a historic and wildly successful concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Irakere, with Valdés, Sandoval, and saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera, founding members of the groundbreaking Cuban jazz group, reuniting after decades of politically driven estrangement.
“They were so happy to be together,” Berg said. “Time keeps moving forward. You don’t want to regret you didn’t do something. I’m glad for them that they won’t look back and think, ‘I should have done that’.”
Tickets and information for Jazz Roots 2024-25 season can be found at arshtcenter.org.
