***Please note the concert is March 19, 2010*** 
Best Acoustic Performer
THE BIG BOUNCE
South Beach loves music that inspires snorting lines or sweeping the ground with one's hind parts. But it's not so hot for the kind of melody that makes people swing-dance, two-step, and do the running man. Yet each Tuesday night at the Florida Room, the Big Bounce — Brendan O'Hara & Komakozie (comprising singer/piano man O'Hara, beatboxer Michael "Komakozie" Rodney, and a rotating band of artists consisting of an upright bassist, a trumpeter, a saxophonist, and a tap dancer) crank out tunes that can be described as the love child of KRS-One and Bob Dylan. And guess what? Ten fingers, ten toes, this baby is a gem. They play songs such as "Champagne and Apple Juice," a cheeky ditty about a steamy night out turned morning after that leaves the lovers thirsty for an unorthodox type of mimosa. The sound showcases O'Hara's pop-perfect potential to rock the airwaves, but when Komakozie adds his oral bass to a track such as "Mistress," you kinda want the pair to remain your little secret. Perhaps B & Koz should patent their time machine. Or better yet, maybe they should give some whacked-out perfumer an inch of their skin so the essence of blue-eyed soul and classic hip-hop vibes could be extracted, bottled, and placed gingerly into our icebox for the rest of eternity. Till then, we'll just take what they give us — a weekly residency on SoBe and countless other performances around the Magic City and the nation.
Florida Room at the Delano
1689 Collins Ave., Miami Beach 33139
305-672-2000
The Florida Room marked its one-year anniversary with heavy hitters De La Soul, on Friday Jan. 23. The event, which was put on in partnership with Giant Step Records, also brought out other groups such as Brendan O’Hara and The Big Bounce. Over the past year, Giant Step Records has brought Janelle Monae, Jazmine Sullivan and Alice Russell, just to name a few, to perform at the Havana–style piano bar, which was designed by Lenny Kravitz Designs. The Florida Room is also the only underground bar in Miami Beach and is located below the Delano Hotel.
Photo Credits: Metromix/Mychal McDonald