November 30, 2024 from 9 to 10:15 PM
The Piano Bar @The Betsy Hotel

RSVP ON EVENTBRITE HERE

In two words, Josephine Baker was a trailblazer and a rule breaker! She was a fabulous dancer playing with the norms or “codes” of her time to make her own, a wonderful singer with a timeless performances in many languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese and even Yiddish, the first black actress to star as the main character in major motion pictures, a great humanist, a War hero, and a Civil rights fighter … (in 1951) she was credited with desegregating audiences on Miami Beach.

JOSEPHINE BAKER … will forever be THE first black international star! During her 50-year-career, she never hesitated to reinvent herself. In France, then in the United-States, she used her fame and her talents to support great humanist causes: giving food and resources to the poor in the 30s, helping war refugees and saving Jews during WWII, raising fund for the Resistance, supporting the French troops and the Allies – mostly with her own money-, influencing foreign leaders to help the General de Gaulle in the process of becoming the future Leader of Free France, and while in the United States, by supporting the Civil rights activists. One of the pinnacles of her advocacy for equality – and the most recorded- was at the March on Washington in 1963, where she addressed the quarter million persons present on the National Mall, just before the famous speech of Martin Luther King Jr. She gave her speech in her French military uniform, a strong symbol of her fight against discrimination, while stating that it was the “best day of her life” and a day that she waited for so long. Josephine Baker is remembered on Miami Beach for refusing to perform at the COPA if black audiences could not attend; as this was during the time of Jim Crow when black artists were permitted to perform, but only for white audiences. (FIU, 2021)

NICOLE YARLING – Vocals and Violin - Nicole is a rich velvet voice with technical skill and personality to boot! She is a star in the jazz community who, like many others, has been at it for years. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, a musical household laid the groundwork for Nicole's career. Currently teaching at Frost School of Music after a 20 year tenture at Florida Memorial, Nicole was a protégé of the late Joe Williams. She is highly regarded as a violinist, vocalist, educator, and mentor to emerging musicians. @knickee1

JIM GASIOR - Piano – Jim is a titanic figure in Miami jazz. He has performed with Ricky Martin, Kelly Clarkson, Alih Jey, Chayanne, Little Richard, Michael Bolton, Jose Feliciano, Smokey Robinson, Benny Golson, Slide Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, Terell Stafford, Patti Austin, John Fedchock, Duffy Jackson, Jason Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Robin Eubanks, Jeremy Pelt, Jay Leonhart and the Jaco Pastorius Reunion Big Band. Jim holds a Bachelor’s in Studio Music and Jazz Performance, and a Master’s degree in Jazz Pedagogy - from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he is in the final stages of his Doctorate in Jazz. Jim is professor and head of the Jazz Program at New World School for the Arts. Jim’s trio for this performance includes Renee Cruz (Bass) and Brandon Lee Lewis (drums).

BLACK AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, CITY OF MIAMI BEACH - The purpose of the black affairs advisory committee is to provide persons of African American/Black descent with a vehicle to participate in city government, represent and articulate the needs of the city's black community, provide recommendations to the city manager, and the mayor and city commissioners on issues and programs affecting black residents, businesses and visitors in the city, and to recommend strategies to preserve, present, and maintain black cultural history and advocate for educational, social, and economic equity in the city. Current members are:Chair Glendon Hall, Vice-Chair Bibi Andrade, Parliamentarian Valerie Crawford, Melba Pearson, Dorrie Foster, Sipiwe Anderson, Bill Warren, Dexter Milton, Luidgi Mary.

THE BETSY … with its palm trees, rotating art exhibits, giant windows looking out onto Ocean Drive, and live jazz 9 times a week, The Piano Bar feels like an outpost of Old Havana by day and one of the social epicenters of South Beach by night. (TIME OUT)

Community Partners: The Betsy Hotel, PG Family Foundation, The Betsy Community Fund, CreARTE/Perez Foundation, FIU Wolfsonian Public Humanities, City of Miami Beach, The Black Affairs Committee of the City of Miami Beach, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau and The Art of Black Miami.