Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
Snarky Puppy will host the second GroundUp Music Festival in Miami on Feb. 9–11.
(Photo: @StellaK)Snarky Puppy is trading in its Brooklyn digs for a bit to head down to Miami for the second GroundUp Music Festival.
Joining the organizers and festival headliners are acts as diverse as Béla Fleck and The Flecktones Trio (which includes Victor Wooten and Futureman), Robert Glasper, Joshua Redman, Becca Stevens, Cuban singer Eliades Ochoa and others.
Snarky Puppy, which topped the Jazz Group category in the 2017 DownBeat Readers Poll, will play all three nights at the fest.
If the regular festival bill wasn’t enticing enough, though, The Starlight Room at the Miami Beach Resort will host separate, late-night music events following the scheduled festival performances.
GroundUp offers a relatively intimate experience, with only about 2,000 tickets being available for each day Feb. 9 through 11, according to the festival’s website. Perhaps as unique as the sedate environs along the Atlantic Ocean are the interactive workshop offerings. The focus ranges from bass with Victor Wooten and Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League; drumming with percussionists Jojo Mayer and Mark Guiliana; songwriting with The Wood Brothers; and the exploration of individuality with Fleck and Lionel Loueke.
Daily admission to the festival is $85, with three-day packages set at $225. VIP packages also are available.
For additional information, visit the GroundUp Music Festival website. DB
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
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