Jazz Roots series. Jazz RootsAcclaimed singer-songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern gospel sound, as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection, as fundamental influences on his own sound. In 2013, he released his breakout Blue Note debut, Liquid Spirit, which sold more than a million albums and earned Porter his first Grammy Award, with NPR declaring him "America’s next great jazz singer." His 2016 follow-up, Take Me to the Alley, won Porter his second Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album and established him as his generation’s most soulful jazz singer-songwriter. His 2021 release Still Rising collected new songs, covers, duets and a selection of his favorite songs. Concertgoers can expect to hear a selection of material from across Porter’s Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning albums.
Artistry & Soul
An Evening With Gregory Porter.
REEVES: CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE
Dianne Reeves with Peter Martin, Romero Lubambo, Reuben Rogers and Terreon Gully
Multi-Grammy Award winner rings in the holiday season with music from her celebrated album
Friday, December 17, 2021 at 8 p.m. Knight Concert Hall
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County (@arshtcenter) is proud to present multi-Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist DIANNE REEVES (@diannereeves) in a special holiday concert featuring music from her celebrated album Christmas Time is Here. Opening for Reeves is Miami’s own 15- year old keyboard wunderkind BRANDON GOLDBERG (@brandonpiano), whose “jazz IQ is phenomenal,†according to DownBeat magazine. He’ll perform with his trio.
Five-time Grammy Award winner DIANNE REEVES is widely considered one of the best jazz vocalists in the world. The New York Times calls her “the most admired jazz diva since the heyday of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.†With Christmas Time Is Here, Reeves melds her timeless grace, elegance and charisma into unforgettable jazz renditions of holiday favorites such as “Little Drummer Boy,†“Carol of the Bells,†“Christmas Waltz,†“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,†“Let It Snow†and many others.
Reeves has received honorary doctorates from Juilliard and Berklee College of Music. In 2018 the National Endowment for the Arts designated her a Jazz Master – the highest honor for jazz artists in the United States. -
Performing with Reeves is Peter Martin on piano; Romero Lubambo on guitar; Reuben Rogers on bass; and Terreon Gully on drums.
BRANDON GOLDBERG began to play piano by ear when he was three years old. He found his passion for jazz and learned about the music and its history by listening to his favorite artists including Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane.
Brandon released his debut album, LET’S PLAY! in April 2019 to rave reviews garnering four stars from DownBeat Magazine and reaching top seven on the Jazz Week charts. His latest album In Good Time was released in September 2021.
Arts Education Program
Jazz Roots: Sound Check, a part of the Jazz Roots series from its inception in 2008, welcomes high school students from Miami-Dade County Public Schools to the Knight Concert Hall for free sound checks, lectures and, on occasion, opportunities to perform with headline artists from the Center’s Jazz Roots concert series. Participants also receive free admission to that evening’s Jazz Roots concert, provided free of charge by the Arsht Center.
Throughout the program’s history, students have participated with jazz legends such as Chris Botti, Chucho ValdeÌs, Candy Dulfer, Aaron Neville and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band to name a few. Click here to watch a behind the scenes video of students experiencing a sound check with the Pete Escovedo Orchestra.
Jazz Roots: Sound Check is made possible in part by EFG; Baldwin Richardson Foods; Alan and Diane Lieberman; Green Family Foundation Trust; Quint Family Foundation; and Hazel Rosen.
JAZZ ROOTS is presented by the Arsht Center with generous support from presenting sponsor EFG.
JAZZ ROOTS is also presented with generous support from Baldwin Richardson Foods, Quint Family Foundation, Alan and Diane Lieberman and Steinway & Sons, the official piano of the Adrienne Arsht Center. WDNA 88.9 FM is a media sponsor.