If It's April, It's Wall to Wall Jazz and Poetry at The Betsy Hotel
- rcastro05
- Apr 2
- 4 min read
The South Beach Hotel that celebrates National Poetry and Jazz Month(s) without missing a beat
A Rich Jazz and Poetry Tradition at The Betsy
Home to Miami Beach’s longest-running jazz series, The Betsy Hotel hosts more than 500 annual jazz performances. At the center of the program is the beloved hotel’s Piano Bar. With its elegant Steinway grand piano and Old Havana-inspired atmosphere, this inviting space offers jazz nine times a week with no cover charge or drink minimum, making jazz accessible to everyone.
The Betsy also boasts robust year-round literary programs, including The Writer's Room, one of the only residency programs in the world with a ‘sweet spot’ for poets. Since the room opened, hundreds of award-winning poets have visited, working at the desk of Hyam Plutzik (1911-62) the poet whose legacy inspires the program.
Betsy Bookends the April lineup with special events on April 30
Throughout the month of April, The Betsy will present over 50 on-property events that embrace jazz and poetry, as well as collaboration with other programs throughout Miami-Dade. Partners include O, Miami, Iris Phot Collective in Little Haiti, Supporting Women Writers in Miami, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Center (GMCVB), the Ocean Drive Association (ODA) and the Perez CREARTE Program.
Bookend 1. Festivities kicked off on March 29 when The Betsy featured Angel Perez on ’88 keys’, alongside bassist Renee Cruz and drummer Brandon Lee Lewis. These consummate musicians play contemporary jazz, while paying homage to music of the greats who created the historic Miami jazz brand, in Overtown. But there’s a presence for poetry here too; before or after the gig, the hotel invited guests to visit The Betsy Poetry Rail in the breezeway adjacent to the hotel, between Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue, to read Langston Hughes’ poem, “Dreams”, because he was an Overtown fixture too. Hughes shaped the way the world understood the connections between jazz and poetry – by introducing seemingly linguistic elements of jazz music, both metaphoric and realistic, into his poetry, impacting both art forms and the world, then and now.
The Betsy Poetry Rail features the work of 12 writers who shaped Miami culture, including Langston Hughes who was a ‘fixture’ in Overtown, back in the day when the area was known as the ‘Harlem of the South’ – and whose poetry was inspired by jazz.
Bookend 2. Closing night. April 30 is International Jazz Day. The night opens, from 6- 8 pm with Flutist Don Echols. Other featured performers - from 8 to 11 pm, are the Afro Beat All Stars, presenting a night of funk, blues and jazz, in partnership with Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator. Herbie Hancock founded International Jazz Day in 2011, an event The Betsy honors because jazz is an art form recognized for promoting peace, dialogue among cultures, promoting freedom of expression and reinforcing the role of artists in enacting social change.
Saturday nights at The Betsy will offer performances in The Piano Bar and on the front terrace that include Jazz duos featuring vocalists: Cindy Ellis (April 5), JaNai Harden (April 12), LeNard Rutledge (April 19), Nicole Yarling (April 26) and Gerard Ortega (April 26).
Sunday evening concerts on Ocean Drive feature high profile jazz titans like Melton Mustafa Jr. (April 27) and Nestor Torres (April 20), which are curated by The Betsy and presented in partnership with the ODA, the City of Miami Beach and the GMCVB – on the stage located in Lummus Park, across from The Betsy Hotel.
Collaborations
The Betsy’s arts programs are always made richer for a legacy of expansive long term partnerships. With O, Miami, on April 15, The Betsy presents a poetry reading and book release event with emerging poet Mia Word, inviting patrons to arrive early to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the storied Cave Canem Derricotte/Eady Chapbook Prize – with a side of Paella (‘think stone soup in Miami’). Events on April 10 and 13 (respectively) include readings by women poets and a jazz fusion event featuring award-winning artists Roxana Amed and Tal Cohen; both are affiliated with the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music Jazz Program.
Visit The Betsy’s Culture Calendar for a complete list of National Poetry and Jazz Month programs. See The Betsy's Writer's Room for a list of visiting artists during this period.
The Betsy Hotel's jazz and poetry programs during National Poetry Month, National Jazz Month and all year long, showcase South Florida's cultural heritage, with support from sponsors like the Plutzik Goldwasser Family Foundation, The Betsy Community Fund at the Miami Foundation, the GMCVB, the City of Miami Beach, the ODA, Perez CreARTE Program, Florida International University's Miami Beach Urban Studios and Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab.