This weekend at the South Beach Jazz Fest in Miami: Spanish Harlem Orchestra with special guest Etienne Charles and Federico Britos Quintet

The South Beach Jazz Festival takes places in venues throughout Miami Beach over four days during January. Classic, Latin and New Orleans styles of Jazz are featured. Most of the performances are free, open to the public and outdoors. The sounds of Jazz enliven the city all weekend long and draw locals and guests from around the world to listen, linger and enjoy.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra with eight albums and six GRAMMY nominations, this powerhouse orchestra is aware that it is crucial to continually push themselves and raise the bar. Their sixth album entitled Anniversary won the 2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Tropical Album.
The Spanish Harlem Orchestra will be performing with their special guest, Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles, next Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Miami Beach Bandshel starting at 8 p.m., while the illustrious Uruguayan-Venezuelan violinist Federico Britos with his Quintet will perform the following day, Sunday, January 11, 2026, starting at 3 p.m. on Lincoln Road.

There is no greater proof of the universality of jazz and classical music than that which embodies the career and life work of Federico Britos. This titan of the violin, who is as equally adept within the world of jazz music as he is in the classical realm, has built a solid reputation throughout the Southern Hemisphere of the Americas.

Federico Britos Ruiz is a celebrated violinist known for his mastery of both classical and jazz music, performing with legends like Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington and winning Grammy Awards. He began violin at age five, became a prodigy, and went on to serve as a concertmaster for orchestras in Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, and Cuba, and later in the United States, including the Miami Symphony Orchestra. Britos is particularly noted for blending Latin American rhythms with jazz and classic styles, leading his own groups like the Hot Club of the Americas.

Musical Style and influence:

Genre Fusion: He is known for his ability to bridge the worlds of classical music, North American jazz, and the rhythms of Latin American music, such as tango, bossa nova, and candombe.
Hot Club of the Americas: Britos leads his own ensemble, Hot Club of the Americas , which offers a unique, Latin-flavored interpretation of the music associated with the Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli-style Hot Clubs.
Mentorship: He has been credited with introducing bossa nova to Cuba and continues to be a titan of the violin in both jazz and classical circles.

https://youtu.be/aQ5T0_ffTGQ?si=60YrOb4BQ0ZDkYFa

Viva The Latin Jazz!!

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