From April 1 – May 1, 2022
40+ Live Performances, Curated Community Conversations & Exhibitions
FREE ADMISSION
(Miami Beach, Florida) The Betsy (thebetsyhotel.com), a luxury family-owned and operated hotel on Miami Beach known internationally as a hub for arts, culture, and community, announces its 10th Annual Overture to Overtown (OTO) Jazz Festival, in celebration of National Jazz Appreciation Month (“JAM”) from April 1-April 30, 2022 on Miami Beach. Proud to be joining with other national jazz presenters, the hotel’s month-long program co-produced with Carol Ann Taylor, will include over 40 live performances, a curated community conversations, curated outdoor exhibits, and the exhibition, Sounds of FREEDOM.
Performances will take place inside the Betsy and on the Ocean Drive Promenade, between 14th street and 14th Place. The Festival’s homage to “JAM culminate on April 30 (International Jazz Day) beginning with solo pianist Brian Murphy out on Ocean Drive Promenade from 11 am – 4pm, then later in the day with a solo performance by legacy jazz pianist Danny Mixon from 6pm – 9 pm in the hotel lobby, followed by the Aaron Burnett Trio from 9pm – midnight in the same space. An encore outdoor concert featuring the Danny Mixon Trio follows on May 1. @thebetsyhotel
For schedule, artist bios please visit: https://www.thebetsyhotel.com/ Overture-to-overtown
The Betsy’s ongoing jazz program and 10th Annual OTO Festival celebrates the historic connections between South Florida jazz and the National historic jazz circuit which brought musicians who played in New York City’s Harlem to The Harlem of the South (AKA
Overtown) as they made their way from club to club – across the USA. ‘Back in Overtown’s heyday — and on Miami Beach — stars like Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, and many others, performed the same jazz standards that will be performed live at The Betsy’s 10th Annual Overture to Overtown Festival. Overtown also hosted such luminaries as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, and Mohamed Ali. #jazzatthebetsy
Celebrations like this provide essential teaching moments by shining light on the government-sanctioned racial segregation that, for decades, prevented Black musicians from being on Miami Beach after dark, necessitating a return to ‘Over-town’. The story of Overtown is one of great resilience in the face of discrimination. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said when speaking about the importance of Jazz, in 1964 at the opening of the Berlin Jazz Festival,
Jazz Appreciation Month (“JAM”) was created in 2001 at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz. In November 2011, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role in uniting people in all corners of the globe. #jazzday
International Jazz Day (April 30) will be celebrated with an appearance by legacy jazz pianist Danny Mixon from 6 to 9 PM in The Betsy’s Lobby Salon. The Aaron Burnett Trio will appear from 9 to midnight, in the same space. An encore public concert featuring The Danny Mixon Trio with vocalist Carole Ann Taylor will take place on a stage in front of The Betsy Hotel on May 1 in partnership with the Ocean Drive Association and the City of Miami Beach.
Danny Mixon’s May 1 concert closes out a series of 5 outdoor Jazz performances, presented as part of the 10th Annual OTO Festival in partnership with the City of Miami Beach and Ocean Drive Association as part of the Ocean Drive Promenade Concert Series. Here is the 5-concert lineup, all free of charge, open to the public.
April 3 – Jim Gasior Jazz Trio with LeNard Rutledge, Vocals
April 10 – Edgar Pantoja Latin Jazz Trio, with Magela Herera,
Vocals and Flute
April 17 – Nicole Yarling (violin and voice) Quartet with Tal
Cohen, Piano
April 24 – Melton Mustafa Jr. (saxophone) Jazz Trio with very
special guest, Nicole Henry, Vocals
May 1 – Danny Mixon Trio with Carole Ann Taylor, Vocals
Underscoring The Betsy’s commitment to jazz and the visual arts, during National Jazz Appreciation Month: The Betsy will also feature an exhibition by Leonor Anthony entitled, SOUNDS OF FREEDOM. The exhibition celebrates Anthony’s collaboration with photographer
Roberto Pollilo focusing on the transcendent nature of jazz and how it represents the hope of all free people. Images from a Miami-area artist will be curated by Rosie Gordon-Wallace and projected onto The Betsy Orb, a unique canvas for digital projection. Rosie Gordon-Wallace will also host a of virtual panel discussion about Overtown under the auspices of Diaspora Vibe’s Back Talks programs. #thebetsyorb
ABOUT THE BETSY’S JAZZ PROGRAM
The Betsy’s Jazz program is the longest continually running series of its kind in the region, featuring live performances 9 times a week from 6 to 11 PM nightly, and from 11 AM to 4 PM Saturday and Sunday with a jazz performance space situated at a Steinway grand inside the lobby. Patrons find performers that define the diversity of the jazz piano genre broadly, from traditional to fusion to multicultural and experimental. “The Betsy is, hands down, my favorite place to play. Sometimes when the place gets rocking, I look up from the piano and see people dancing…,” noted Australian-Israeli pianist Tal Cohen. Cohen is a regular in The Betsy’s lineup, along with more than a dozen other pianists who play in a curated rotation (https:// bit.ly/33PoNBi). Despite COVID, The Betsy’s jazz program has endured while ensuring the safety of performers and guests. Explore a video featuring Wilkie Ferguson: https://fb.watch/aCVoWjtqSt/ For more info on Arts & Culture @ The Betsy: https://www.thebetsyhotel.com/explore/arts-culture
ABOUT THE BETSY HOTEL
The Betsy Hotel is a family-owned and operated boutique luxury hotel anchoring the quiet end of iconic Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. A beachfront gem honored by Travel + Leisure as one of the best hotels in the world, The Betsy’s exquisitely designed inside and outside spaces play host to rotating art and photography exhibitions across nine public galleries, live jazz nine times a week, an artist residency program, classical music pop-ups, a large library, and curated
in-room book collections. Special design touches include a rooftop pool with 360-degree views suspended in mid-air, an orb-shaped sky bridge (hailed as a groundbreaking piece of Miami Beach public art), a sculptural Poetry Rail honoring wordsmiths from Langston Hughes to Muhammad Ali, and special projects like TransArt and Escribe Aqui/Write Here that celebrate community through the arts. The Betsy’s Overture to Overtown Jazz Festival celebrates 10 years in April 2002. The Betsy Hotel, owned and operated by the Plutzik Goldwasser Family, is located at 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, in the heart of the Art Deco District. www.thebetsyhotel.com