Jazz

The album explores the tension between an imagined Florida and the reality experienced by those who are drawn to the state: retirees, tourists, immigrants, and nature lovers. Eight poems by Cuban American poet Carolina Hospital serve as lyrics, each reflecting a different side of Florida, from tourism and retirement to climate crisis and ecological loss.

The music, written for Camila Meza and chamber ensemble, draws from different genres, blending contemporary classical elements with jazz idioms and pop song structures. Together, the poems and music invite listeners to look beyond the postcard and experience Florida in all its complexity, fragility, and beauty.

“I wrote this album because I’ve been troubled by what I see happening in my home state,” Scott Lee explains. “Parts of Florida’s unique natural environment seem to be on the verge of collapse because of overdevelopment and pollution. At the same time, few residents see the prosperity this growth is supposed to bring. These stories clash with the utopian imagery used to advertise Florida as a magical paradise, which powers the tourist industry that itself threatens to destroy what makes this place actually special.”

“I felt some responsibility to speak out, since I was born and raised in Florida and am now raising a family here. Rather than making grand statements about global climate change or immigration with this album, I’m interested in telling more intimate, local stories that I hope will resonate beyond Florida.”

Premiered at the University of Florida in 2024, Greetings from Florida: Postcards from Paradise pairs Camila Meza’s versatility with a top-notch chamber ensemble of Floridian musicians who deftly execute Lee’s complex scores. Meza’s jazz/pop vocals and driving guitar glide over top of noisy, pointillistic grooves performed by flutist Kristen Stoner, clarinetist Seok Hee Jang, violinist Tania Moldovan, cellist Emily Austin Smith, pianist Evan Mitchell, and percussionist Danielle Moreau. As Lee describes: “Camila brought my songs to life. I needed a performer who could take my demanding music off of the page and make it her own, which she delivered in a way beyond my wildest expectations.”

The songs’ lyrics were the result of a deep collaboration between poet and composer: “I wanted to commission poetry for this project, and it needed to be a Floridian poet,” explained Lee. “I read one of Carolina’s poems and I could immediately hear the music in the words. Luckily, when I reached out to her, she readily agreed to collaborate on the project. Her poems balance ambiguity with clarity of message in a way that makes them perfect for setting to music. The repeated refrains of the poems had an undeniable impact on the structures of the songs, many of which are like elaborate verse/chorus pop songs.”