Snarky Puppy

It’s tough to stand out in today’s well-trod festival landscape but GroundUP in Miami Beach keeps putting on a genuine happening of music and global community. Co-founded in 2017 by Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League, GroundUP 2024 presents another vibrant and eclectic three-day lineup in February capped by sets from League’s genre-jumping, Grammy-winning instrumental crew.

Roots, jazz, fado, Carnatic, Malian, hiphop, rock, steel pan, rumba and more are all in this musical sandbox as genres or influences. A wealth of talent embodying sounds and traditions from all over the map make for a welcoming and immersive long weekend on the beach. New York-based Snarky Puppy are both headliner and host — performers and musical emcees with an embracing, exploratory style.

Performers include: singer, flutist and festival-designated artist-at-large Elena Ayodele Pinderhughes; trumpeter Etienne Charles & Creole Soul; lutist Bassekou Kouyate with percussionist Weedie Braimah; Portuguese singer Gisela Joáo; Florida-born tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland with his Twi-Life collective; Louis Cole and his self-explanatory Huge Band; and Indian singer Varijashree Venugopal.

Gisela João by Christy Barley

That’s a sample of a lineup with all-star lineage and credits too numerous to recite here. League himself touts Los Muñequitos & Afrocuba All Stars, a first-ever live collaboration between two bands from coastal Cuba that have been friendly rivals for decades: masters of rumba Los Muñequitos De Matanzas and folkloric aces Grupo Afrocuba De Matanzas.

“It is a dream to bring together these Cuban bands,” League said when announcing the festival in October. “Their joint performance will not only be a pinnacle for GroundUP but a moment etched into music history.”

In between sets there are workshops, panels and masterclasses that give music fans and makers more reason to arrive early and stay late. Besides three headlining sets, Snarky Puppy this year are adding a Friday-night “Family Dinner” performance featuring guest vocalists TBA — one of the festival’s array of limited-ticket experience packages.

So get your global groove on and leave your spreadsheets at home: Even with two stages, none of the acts at GroundUP have overlapping sets.

GroundUP Music Festival is Friday-Sunday, February 2-4, in and around the Miami Beach Bandshell. groundupmusicfestival.com ~ Tim Moffatt