Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert celebrating 10th annual 'Jazz in the Gardens'

Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert
Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert

When Miami Gardens, Fla. Mayor Oliver G. Gilbert learned that a family from Australia had specifically chosen Jazz in the Gardens as their vacation destination for the year, that’s when he knew that the annual event traversed international waters in a major way.
Gilbert could not have fathomed during the inaugural Jazz in the Gardens that it would have blossomed into one of the nation’s most popular and prestigious musical extravaganzas of its kind in less than 10 years – especially after its inauspicious and humble infancy.
As the city prepares to celebrate the 2015 Jazz in the Gardens’ on March 21-22, 2015, the event’s meteoric rise as a major national and international spring vacation destination took everyone by surprise, even with the geographical attributes innate to the region, such as South Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and the Florida Keys.
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“I can’t even tell you how much credit (the previous mayor and city leaders) deserve,” Gilbert raved. “It wasn’t successful at first, but the mayor stuck to it.”
“If you look at where Jazz in the Garden started and where it is now, and the patience, confidence and faith it took from the prior mayor …” he continued. “I went to the first jazz in the Gardens, and there were maybe 1300 people there, but it didn’t even look like that much. There were lots of empty seats, people moving around … It was nothing like it is today.”
Now Miami Gardens’ signature annual cultural event, the 2015 Jazz in the Gardens, is already a staple of South Florida that seems to bring the best out of its residents and tourists alike. There is a powerful undercurrent of tranquility and fun that washes over people like the tide crashing against the beach.
The attraction, of course, is the annual assemblage of A-list musical talent, from old school legends and current chart busters, which works like a trumpet to officially signify the beginning of spring. This year’s illustrious crew of musicians is as formidable as ever with soul crooners that make women’s knees go weak, including Maxwell and R. Kelly but also includes the likes of Erykah Badu, Run-DMC, Sheila E, Jeffrey Osbourne, Freddie Jackson, Peabo Bryson, Brian Culbertson, Karina Iglesias, John Erinosho, Valerie Tyson, Roy Ayers and so many more.
Even Gilbert admits there is something deeper at work at this transcendent event.
“It’s not just jazz, it’s a state of mind,” he said. “We promise you something extraordinary. The weather, the setting and all the things we can offer here. We engage you at every level.”
The event attracts a multiplicity of cultures from diverse places including Jamaica, the Bahamas, Great Britain and even as far away as Australia.
You can almost hear the mayor humming to himself through the phone as he reminisces over previous Jazz in the Garden editions that included the likes of beloved artists Patti LaBelle and Frankie Beverly and Maze and many others who helped to build this from a fledgling local party into a trusted transcontinental brand that people clamor for every year.
“When tickets go on sale, people buy tickets automatically before they even know who’s coming to perform because they trust in the experience,” Gilbert said. “People come from everywhere, enjoying the weather, because we bring a wide range of people together in the audience and they sing and dance in the isles (during the entire two-day event),” he said. “It’s really is an experience that we create but that actually benefits the entire region.”
Miami Gardens’ 10th annual Jazz in the Gardens runs from March 21-22, 2015. For more information, log onto www.jazzinthegardens.com/2015

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