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I lived in Miami for 6 months. Hated every second of it. Not much to add to Henry and DSOP's take on it. If you are interested in getting some more insights into the history of Miami and its development throughout the 70's and 80's, check out the excellent documentary movie Cocaine Cowboys. The old Jewish money and culture of the 50's and 60's gave way to the cocaine of the 70's and 80's. There are portions of Miami that remind me of the time I spent in Bangkok . . . and not in a good way.

matthughen wrote:I lived in Miami for 6 months. Hated every second of it. Not much to add to Henry and DSOP's take on it. If you are interested in getting some more insights into the history of Miami and its development throughout the 70's and 80's, check out the excellent documentary movie Cocaine Cowboys. The old Jewish money and culture of the 50's and 60's gave way to the cocaine of the 70's and 80's. There are portions of Miami that remind me of the time I spent in Bangkok . . . and not in a good way.

The hookers?

I was born and raised in The Bronx, NY. I have to admit that as rough as certain neighborhood were (especially back in the 80's), Ive never felt as unsafe as I have in certain parts of Miami.

As far as drumming, there are some truly amazing players and teachers down here (Im in West Palm, about 1 hour north of Miami), most notably John Yarling and Steve Rucker at U of M, which is widely considered to have one of the best jazz/percussion programs in the country.

Dave Capuzelo wrote:I was born and raised in The Bronx, NY. I have to admit that as rough as certain neighborhood were (especially back in the 80's), Ive never felt as unsafe as I have in certain parts of Miami.

As far as drumming, there are some truly amazing players and teachers down here (Im in West Palm, about 1 hour north of Miami), most notably John Yarling and Steve Rucker at U of M, which is widely considered to have one of the best jazz/percussion programs in the country.

I have to say that, despite the dearth of live music in Miami, there are some monster drummers around here that most have never heard of. John Yarling is an absolute beast. Steve Rucker, who is a jazz/percussion teacher at UM, has a great reputation, but, I've never heard him play. (The UM Concert Jazz Band has long been considered one of the top, if not the top, university jazz bands in the World). Duffy Jackson used to play around town when there was music. Nomar Negroni is scary. So are Ludwig Afonso and Ivan Zervigon. But, "THE MAN" at UM for decades was Steve Bagby, an artist in residence. Originally from Chicago, he was the real deal. I took lessons from him in the late 70's. His death was a tragedy and a huge loss to the jazz drumming community.

Less about the hookers, Henry, than about feeling like I was in a third world country.
In early 98 Ludwig Afonso was spending some time at FIU (prepping for UM I think studying a bit with Jonathan Joseph) at the same time I spent 6 mos in Miami (one semester at FIU) and he was such a young kid and very rough around the edges, but he was hungry and dedicated and you could just kind of sense there was something special developing with that kid.

Dave Capuzelo wrote:I was born and raised in The Bronx, NY. I have to admit that as rough as certain neighborhood were (especially back in the 80's), Ive never felt as unsafe as I have in certain parts of Miami.

Might be more a case of familiarity (I say this as an outsider who lived a couple of years in New York City).

Took lessons both from Jonathan Joseph and John Yarling. Both amazing players!