Bigger stages, deeper roots: Montreux Jazz Festival Miami returns for a third year at The Hangar at Regatta Grove, expanding its lineup and celebrating jazz’s past, present and future through artists shaped by the city itself.
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published by ArtburstMiami.com. The Spotlight is republishing the story in partnership with Artburst.
Jon Batiste remembers when the late Quincy Jones invited him to perform at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Grammy Award winner Batiste, who became known to mainstream audiences as the bandleader of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” for seven years from 2015 to 2022, is Montreux Jazz Festival Miami’s artistic director and co-owner, alongside Miami music icon Emilio Estefan.
Now in its third year, Batiste’s Montreux Jazz Festival Miami has expanded venues and lineups with two additional nights at the Miami Beach Bandshell along with its premiere venue at The Hangar in Coconut Grove. Two shows are at the Miami Beach Bandshell, Wednesday, Feb. 25 and Thursday, Feb. 26, with The Hangar shows from Friday, Feb. 27 through Sunday, March 1.
Batiste headlines a New Orleans celebration, his hometown, with Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue on Friday, Feb. 27.
When the idea was floated to bring a sister Montreux festival to the States, Batiste said New Orleans was on the list. Coming from New Orleans, another global music capital, Batiste says there were a number of places that were considered before settling on Miami. “We thought about places that were hubs of culture and hubs of creativity, and in America, you know, I’m from New Orleans, and there’s already a really great festival there… but Miami is very much a hub of culture, and it’s really untapped. So it felt perfect to bring these worlds together.”.
There was more about Miami, too, besides the fact that the name flowed really well: Montreux Miami. “I wanted it to feel like a celebration of the American musical art form that we call jazz, but rooted in the Afro-Latin traditions and Cuban and Caribbean traditions, Brazilian traditions.”
One of the performers who fits the bill is Venezuelan-American singer Elena Rose, who performs on the final day, Sunday, March 1. Her story starts in Venezuela where she finished high school “very young. I think I was like 16 or 17” and then stayed in Caracas where she studied journalism in college and performed in clubs at night.
“I started to sing with live bands in different bars, events, etc. I was still very, very young in comparison to every musician I was around,” she says. “But I always felt very protected and guided. Performing is what comes most natural to me.”
The idea of being a journalist gave her another outlet.
“I think at that point I just wanted to have a space where I could speak,” she says. Her family didn’t think that a career in music was a wise choice – “they were freaking out that I only wanted music” – so she thought a college degree in journalism might be a good fit.
Born in Miami, she returned to the city when she was 19 because of crises in South America. It was the move that eventually put her on the music map.
“I sang basically in every corner,” she says. “I became like a street cat, and I loved it. To me, it was what I really connected with.”
She played at Da Silva in Doral and Castro’s jazz bar, and it was one night in a Miami bar when she was approached by Peruvian producer and songwriter Patrick Romantik that changed her life.
Romantik needed someone to record his demos. “He was like, ‘I really like your voice. I write songs, and sometimes I write songs for female artists, and I don’t have a female who can record these songs.’”
She took him up on the offer and started being paid to do studio vocal work, and it became more than a job. She learned what it was like to be in the business and to be in a studio. Rose began writing songs in earnest, working behind the scenes to create songs for Latin superstar Becky G and collaborating with Selena Gomez, Bad Bunny and Marc Anthony. Then, during COVID, she decided it was time for her voice to be heard.
She made her singing debut with the Latin urban song “Sandunga.” She says it was a change to then become the person in the spotlight. “That’s the coolest thing about being a songwriter—that you don’t have to be exposed. But in being exposed, I really take it seriously, bringing something that’s gonna add value to humanity.”
To perform at Montreux, where jazz, blues and salsa are the root genres celebrated, brings meaning to what she wants to give to the audience.
“Being a live performer is the best way to show that you are a professional at this type of craft.”
For her Montreux Miami set, Rose says she’s rethinking everything.
“I want to rearrange my set list,” she says. “I think I have a very intentional, strong-message set list, but I want to definitely play around with sounds and rhythms—so, you know, a little bit more Miami, too.”
She says there’s not much she would change about where she came from and where she is now – preparing for her place at Montreux Miami.
“If I could be born again, I would choose Latina again. I’m proud of where I come from, and of encouraging ourselves to hug that part of us that can’t be lost along the way—and to just make it shine and keep it alive. I am a Miami girl, too. This city built me in many ways.”
New this year for Montreux Miami are two shows at the Miami Beach Bandshell. The ambition extends beyond a single venue or neighborhood as the festival grows, according to Batiste.
“There are more places that we are constantly exploring, so many incredible landscapes and incredible places that we want to explore to share the music. Every year we’re performing and gathering musicians, and when we are there, we are walking around and thinking about where we can do more of it.”
Vince Wilburn Jr. kicks off the Miami Beach Bandshell segment on Wednesday, Feb. 25, with a celebration of his “Uncle Miles.” Trumpeter Miles Davis would have turned 100 years old on May 26, and the legendary jazz master’s centennial is being celebrated throughout 2026.
Wilburn brings the Miles Electric Band to Montreux Miami.
“You know, Uncle Miles, or the chief as we called him, he loved going to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He was close friends with Claude Nobs (the founder and general manager of the original Montreux festival). That was always a highlight for him, so when they reached out to us about Miami, it was a no-brainer,” says Wilburn, whose mother, Dorothy Wilburn, is Miles’ sister. Wilburn was a drummer in Davis’s band from 1984 to 1987.
He’s quick to say that the Miles Electric Band is not a tribute band.
“No, no, we would never imitate or even try to duplicate those amazing musicians who played the music in Uncle Miles’ career. What we’re doing is giving our interpretation of how the music moved us in a way that we can,” he says.
What audiences in Miami will see is not nostalgia, but evolution and something he traces directly back to Davis himself.
“The way we communicate and listen to each other—that’s what Uncle Miles taught us. Don’t look back, evolve, keep the music fresh and take the music seriously, which we do.”
While Wilburn is the one who put MEB together, he emphasizes that each player is a leader, not a sideman, and some originally played with Davis, including Darryl Jones on bass, Robert Irving on keyboard, who was Davis’ longtime musical director, and percussionist Munyungo Jackson, who played on live recordings. Then there is the next generation keeping the music alive, including Greg Spero on keyboards, Keyon Harrold on trumpet, Rasaki Aladokun of Nigeria, a master drummer who played with King Sunny Ade for more than 20 years, and DJ Logic on turntables.
“I just got the all-star team together,” says Wilburn.
It’s that kind of evolution that Batiste sees for his Montreux festival – new performers alongside legends, a living, growing summit of cultures and his promise that “big things will continue to happen with Montreux in Miami.”
WHAT: Montreux Jazz Festival Miami
WHERE: Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, The Hangar at Regatta Grove, 3385 Pan American Drive, Coconut Grove
WHEN: Wednesday, Feb. 25 and Thursday, Feb. 26, Miami Beach Bandshell, Friday, Feb. 27 through Sunday, March 1, The Hangar.
LINEUP: Wednesday, Feb. 25: Miles Electric Band and Kind of Blues Acoustic Band; Thursday, Feb. 26, Makaya McKraven; Friday, Feb. 27, Jon Batiste and Trombone Shorty; Saturday, Feb. 28, Nile Rodgers and Chic, Toto, Adi Oasis; Sunday, March 1, Bomba Estereo, Elena Rose, and Pedrito Martinez
COST: $60 and $93, general admission, Miami Beach; Hangar prices vary from $154 to $231 general admission depending on day, along with multi-day packages and VIP available.
INFORMATION: www.montreuxjazzfestivalmiami.com
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