GroundUP Music Festival is back at the Miami Beach Bandshell in 2025 in a different but packed and stacked, star-studded lineup. The Bandshell facility has been undergoing construction required a new, more intimate festival setting. The main stage area will also include a stage at the back of the bandshell for the bands so there will be minimal walking and maximum continuous music.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know about the 5-time Grammy winning host band, Snarky Puppy. This will be the eighth GUMF event and I’m so excited for this 2-day program. In fact, we’ll get more Snarky Puppy than at previous festivals with a Family Dinner style set AND a Snarky Puppy set both days for a total of 4 sets compared to three (1 per day) at previous festivals. So for any returning fans, it’ll be a bountiful event and new fans are in for a special treat!
The Family Dinner sets are modeled after the two Family Dinner albums which featured guest vocalists and musicians. At FD set in 2024, veterans of those albums performed along with one new addition, Tarriona Tank Ball from Tank and the Bangas. This year’s FD sets go in the opposite direction with all new participants and one returning vocalist, the fabulous Shayna Steele, who appeared on Family Dinner Vol. 1.
While there’s no official theme for the GUMF lineup, it feels like the year of the guitar. Two legendary jazz guitarists John Scofield and Bill Frisell will be bringing their trios to the fest. The ultra talented and entertaining bassist Munir Hossn who performed late-night in 2024 will perform on Saturday and the fantastic C4 Trio, who I caught on tour with Snarky Puppy in 2023 will perform on Sunday.
On top of that, there’s the late-night jam sessions with an array of the festival performers, special guests and Snarky Puppy members! It’s surely gonna be another magnificent event. Here’s my rundown of the schedules and activities.
Saturday Schedule
John Scofield is a guitar legend and has played with a Who’s Who of jazz and funk royalty. It’s almost incomprehensible how many touchpoints he has in jazz over the last last 5 decades. He’s played with Miles Davis, George Duke, Eddie Harris, Lettuce, Medeski Martin & Wood, Billy Cobham and so many more. His 2002 album Überjam is a classic funk fusion album and featured luminaries Karl Denson, John Medeski, and Adam Deitch (Lettuce). The chance to see him in this setting is incredible.
Munir Hossn is an amazing bass player and he led one of the top late night sessions, Three Bass Jam, at GUMF ’24 (see video) so it’s great to see on the main program. he was also at the GUMF ’23 preparty so he’s got strong connections to the festival. He’s also a great entertainer and this time he’ll have an all female group, Elas, with him so I’m anticipating another super set.
Ms. Lisa Fischer is a Grammy-winning vocalist renowned for singing with Luther Vandross, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner and Chaka Khan. She also was one of the performers that appeared in “20 Feet from Stardom” about the careers of backup vocalists. She’s built an illustrious career and I’m excited to hear her with the best backup band in the world, Snarky Puppy.
Gaby Moreno is one of the Family Dinner guests I’m super excited to see and she’s no stranger to the family. She performed with the Pups at the Kennedy Center tribute to Susana Baca (see video) and is a fantastic singer and entertainer. The second connection that I became aware of recently is that she has has recorded and performed with The LA LOM band!
Eric Gale‘s website says he’s the “Best Blues Guitarist in the World” and I can believe it. He plays a right handed guitar upside down creating a unique sound and his sets are wildly entertaining (see video from earlier this year). On top of the wonderful singers, Grammy-winning Ms. Lisa Fischer, and Gaby Moreno, he’s gonna bring some extra energy to the Family Dinner set.
Living Colour (Corey Glover and Will Calhoun) is the most recently announced addition to the lineup and a huge one at that. The band is multi-nominated, two-time Grammy winner will knock everyone’s sock’s off for that Family Dinner set. I’m hoping that the late night jam sessions also have them up. Their best known hit “Cult of Personality” is shown in the video.
Sunday Schedule
Bill Frisell is another outstanding jazz guitarist. In his more than 40 year career, he’s been on more than 100 albums either as a lead or session musician including a couple with John Scofield! He’s won a Grammy and been nominated several times, and I’ve never seen him live so this is another top pick for sure.
C4 Trío is an ensemble of three Venezuelan cuatro players formed by Jorge Glem, Hector Molina, Edward Ramírez along with bassist Rodner Padilla. They toured with Snarky Puppy as the opener for several shows in 2023 that I attended and their music is high energy, beautiful and amazing to watch. The cuatro is the national instrument of Venezuela – a small 4-string guitar that has its roots in the family of Spanish guitars.C4 Trio has also been able to introduce a new musical vocabulary transforming the cuatro into a versatile and contemporary instrument, capable of appearing in all imaginable musical contexts.
Youssou N’Dour from Senegal, is one of the most famous and popular singers in all of Africa. He originated a blended style of African music called mbalax the has sacred origins in traditional Senegal music. One of the traditions of the FD sessions is the union of music from around the globe. For example on FD2, Salif Keita, from Mali was a featured singer and that was an amazing collaboration, so I can’t wait to hear how the Pups and N’Dour work together.
Shayna Steele will be part of the Family Dinner set on Sunday and it’s been a long time coming since her amazing contributions on FD Vol. 1 (see video). I’ve been wanting to see her again since she had one of my favorite sets at the Atlanta Jazz Festival back in 2018. It’ll be great to see her on the big stage (and maybe late night, hopefully). The FD set will also feature Madison McFerrin, another newcomer to the family and new to me. Looking forward to this one big time!
Madison McFerrin has a classic soul voice, absolute silk and so much in the groove in this KEXP video. She’s had many television performances and support of Questlove and Roots but I haven’t been familiar with her up till now. That’s one of the great treats of GUMF every year – finding new music that you’ll enjoy for years to come.
Late Nights with Electric Kif Jam Sessions is gonna be fantastic. Returning GUMF attendees may remember previous late nights where there were some massive jams and this year will follow in that vein. Back in 2023, Electric Kif held the preparty which features many Snarky Puppy sit-ins and it’s captured in the video here. With a continuous jam and people moving in and out (and perhaps switching instruments), these will be parties with memories for a lifetime.