Jazz In The Gardens brought the house down for the 11th time

Photographed by Sean Simpson
Written by Helen Barbara

For all the locals and out of towners, Jazz in the Garden 2016 was THE music festival to attend, not even Souths Florida’s weather change stopped fans from enjoying this year’s lineup of artists. With its 11^th annual success, The Sunlife Stadium fills up with vendors ready to deliver tasty and stylish treats for the excited guests. As a first timer at Jazz in the Garden I was thrilled the night before just knowing I’ll be steps away from head liners such as Usher, Charlie Wilson, BabyFace, Janelle Monae, and Kool and The Gang.

Saturday’s festivities started with three local artists, the first was Cristyle Renae. Cristyle said it felt so good to perform at home, “This is where I belong, I feel so blessed.” What keeps her going is her family, love and encouragement, her faith in God. Cristyle was quoted saying “Meditation, that’s what keeps me grounded, that’s what helps me balance the business and maybe the not so positive parts of the music industry.” Her message surely impacted her audience, a great reminder that others have traced the path that we wish to follow.

Singing classical songs from the legends that have inspired him, Ronnie VOP was close to leaving the states for his birthday when he received the call to perform at Jazz in the Garden this year. His song “Would You Mind” has been playing through the airwaves by 99 JAMZ and Hot 105. His success started at the age of five when his grandmother (manager and vocal coach) heard him singing “His eyes on the sparrow” in the backseat of her car on his way home from school. His first performance was at Church where his grandmother said “This is the toughest crowd because you’re giving it to the Lord.” From that moment the rest is history.

The quadruple threat (singer, model, songwriter and actress) April Raquel and her band Koture Funk pumped the crowd with their urban funk sound and her sexy dance moves. It has been noted that the name of her band is a combination of her love of athletics, music and fashion. After traveling to and fro Miami and Los Angeles, she noticed the key difference in show business between L.A and Miami is that L.A is a lot more competitive a lot more opportunities in productions and music. “If you’re not really sure of why you are there you can get swept up and get lost in it, I didn’t want to find myself just floating and I wanted to be anchored. So I came home to get anchored and figure things out because there’s no place that can keep me centered like South Florida’s Music, is what I’m supposed to do.”

As the day started to come to an end, performances by Alex Bugnon, Regina Belle, and Najee left the audience and myself wanting for more. They showed us why they are The Jazz in the Gardens All Stars. The night swiftly changed into the late 1970s and 80s when music continued as the Average White Band, Michael McDonald, Kool and The Gang sang all their classic records. Being born in the early 90’s there were only a few songs I remembered from Kool and The Gang and while I wasn’t familiar with the others I still danced and sang the chorus to every song. The party continued with intermission as Charlie Wilson sat down with us before closing the first night off.

Charlie Wilson also known as Uncle Charlie continues to do what he loves because of all the love and support his fans give him. When asked how he felt being honored for the lifetime award. Charlie responded, “Receiving the life time awards an awesome experience. “I don’t say bittersweet but it was sweet-bitter because you know, everybody that has ever got that award was retired and I was still making records, so I was like… are they trying to tell me something. I appreciate the award but I’m just getting started.” His wife has been an inspiration behind most of his songs while he’s writing or singing Charlie jokingly quoted her saying “Umm, excuse me can I say something…I think you should sing it like this.” Laughter filled the room as one commentator said “So she gets all the money since her suggestions gives you hits after hits.” He assured us that we can expect another record by the end of this month. As for his performance lets just say Uncle Charlie was so energetic and filled with love from the audience. He kept singing until 2:15am, talk about a true performer.

After Saturdays amazing performances Sunday was sure to be the best closing night for JITG. Miami’s local native La Vie (Life in French) hit the stage with powerful and breathtaking songs. She sings a little bit of Soul, Jazz, Pop and R&B. It meant a lot for her to be in Jazz in the Gardens because after applying four times she finally got the opportunity to sing this year. She’s working on a new project entitled Love Story. I asked La Vie where her inspiration comes from and she answered.  “It came from me being in the worst place I could have been in life. My family and I we were going through a very hard time and just thinking about how good God is to me. Even though I felt like everything around me was falling to pieces he was what kept me together he was my strength my core.”

Speaking of God, for the guests that were not able to attend service, Fred Hammond made sure to bring it home. It was so beautiful listening to the gospel songs he sang. The crowd was clapping and swaying as if they were in their church, resulting into a beautiful sight and wonderful experience. Next in the lineup was Brian Culbertson who set the tone and mood for the headliners ahead. As the sky started getting cloudy Janelle Monae made a grand entrance coinciding with the rain which I might say played a nice effect. Her jazzy smooth moves and electric energy made me run outside the media tent and sing to one my favorite songs called “Tightrope”. As the rain started pouring everyone pulled out their raincoats and umbrellas. One minute Janelle was on stage, then she disappeared into the photo pit and ended up in the crowd where she was handed an umbrella by a fan to keep the party going.

Following was Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds the man every guy wanted to be and the man every woman wanted to date. Three years later after performing at Jazz in the Gardens, BabyFace graced the stage once again. Having the opportunity to see him in person I can confirm his name definitely fits him. He still looks amazing even at 58 years old. BabyFace was asked how he stays so young and said by staying away from salty food eating healthy, drinking green juice and just taking care of the body. After his first performance in jitg back in 2013 Babyface has collaborated with Toni Braxton and plans on making another album together. A little known fact that many weren’t aware of is that BabyFace found Usher at a talent show in Atlanta. He’s proud that his protégé is doing great things in his career. He jokingly wanted us to hurry the interview so that doesn’t miss his performance. As the stage lights brightened, the band started playing the instrumentals to You Make Me Wanna where Usher walked on stage wanting everyone who knew the lyrics to sing
along. With the many hit songs Usher has sang throughout the years the crowd just couldn’t get enough of the energy he was projecting. Even though he was on stage and I was in the crowd I felt as if I were performing as a duet. For his last song and as the rain started picking up he walked through the crowd and thanked everyone for coming out and supporting him through the year. Overall I had an amazing unforgettable experience at jazz in the gardens. I would recommend any and everyone to go and enjoy this event. I can only imagine what next year will bring.