Hampton Art Lovers Presents: Jazz Under a Simple Tree | Latin Jazz Edition

Jazz Under a Simple Tree: Latin Jazz Edition

Friday, October 16, 2026
Doors 7 PM · Live music 7:30 PM
Historic Ward Rooming House Gallery & Gardens
249 NW 9th Street, Historic Overtown, Miami

Hampton Art Lovers opens its fall Jazz Under a Simple Tree series by closing out its Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. Presented in collaboration with Viernes Culturales, this special Latin Jazz Edition brings the sounds and communities of Little Havana and Historic Overtown together at the Ward.

The evening features JT6, led by Juan Turros, a professional saxophonist, music educator, and founding member of the Miami band Suénalo. Turros studied music at Florida International University and the University of Miami and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance with a Jazz Emphasis from FIU. His ensemble moves between Latin jazz, mambo, funk, and house music, pairing jazz improvisation with rhythms made for dancing. The sextet will perform two live sets.

Jazz Under a Simple Tree is Hampton Art Lovers’ premier cultural gathering series. It showcases local jazz musicians, brings straight-ahead jazz back to Overtown, and brings people together through live music, art, and the neighborhood’s cultural stories.

The series is anchored this fall by Hampton Art Lovers’ exhibition In the Paint, featuring Ernie Barnes and an installation dedicated to Paul Robeson. Barnes’s figures give movement and rhythm a visual form; Robeson’s life connects artistic performance with cultural leadership. Guests can experience the exhibition alongside the music.

The conversation between Cuban music and jazz reaches back to jazz’s beginnings. New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton called the Cuban rhythmic presence in his music the “Spanish tinge,” drawing on patterns including the tresillo and habanera. Later, musicians such as Mario Bauzá, Machito, and Chano Pozo brought Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz improvisation together in new ways, helping establish Afro-Cuban jazz.

Evening schedule

7:00 PM — Doors open
7:30–8:15 PM — First set
8:15–8:45 PM — Intermission
8:45–9:30 PM — Second set

Sponsored by Art of Black Miami / Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Southeast Overtown/Park West CRA, FIU Public Humanities Lab and the Simkins Family Trust. Spirits provided by E11EVEN Vodka and Duke & Dame Whiskey.