Rainy start to the Friday at Newport, but the weather cleared and kept the crowds down. An overcast day was welcome instead of the baking sun. I must admit that the last time I was at Newport Jazz, I was there to see Nina Simone in her twilight years. She cancelled, and the festival scurried to fill the void with the Brecker Bros. Years of poor lineups, overcrowded concert field, and an exponential increase in "rules", has kept me away from the Jazz and hipster-laden folk festival. I'm not sure if the winds of Jazz are changing, or we just got lucky, but I had a thoroughly enjoyable time.
Etienne Charles is a dapper trumpeter from the Caribbean who also spent time on congas. Full band and Latin rhythms were deftly displayed. Charles had a checkered suit red tie and matching mint shirt and mint-rimmed glasses.
The Heath Brothers have been around a while. Jimmy and Percy (drums and sax)led a band of relatively young lions. Mid set, Jimmy points out that he is going to turn 90 in October.
Kneebody is a groove Jazz jam band. Guitar, bass, drums and keys stretched out on some prog type numbers. They mentioned that this was the second year in a row at the fest and were genuinely happy to be here.
Steve Coleman and the Five Elements played on the Quad stage which was located inside the fort. A barrage of avant sqiuggles was passed around Coleman's group. With his hat on backwards, Coleman appeared to be the same age as his group, but actually was twice or three times their age.
Tyshawn Sorey and Alloy played the Harbor Stage. I have seen this drummer back up many players at the Firehouse, and his restrained but forward leaning brushwork was well-received
Festival highlight was Kamasi Washington. LA based sax player's debut album The Epic was on everyone's best of list. A sprawling three disc opus careens from Miles to Mingus. Kamasi is an imposing stage presence, he looks like Rosie Greer with wardrobe by Sun Ra. Two full drummers, standup bass player who rapped, amazing teenaged pianist, female vocalist, and trombonist had a high energy Afro-futurist vibe. At one point, Kamasi said he would welcome the man "who taught him everything he knew" to the stage. While I was busy looking for John Coltrane, Kamasi's father Ricky came out to lend a hand on soprano sax and flute. Kamasi has ripped it up at Bonaroo and other festivals, and is a torch bearer of the next thing in Jazz.
Tierney Sutton and The Joni Mitchell Project played from the extensive Joni songbook. Caught an excellent version of "The Dry Cleaner from Desmoines", and some classics from the Court and Spark album.
Donny McCaslin has been reviewed in this blog before. He mentioned that he played on the final David Bowie record Blackstar, and said it was a moving experience. He had a keyboard player that coaxed some odd noises from his setup.
Galactic was the final act of the day. These Nawlins festival stalwarts are more at home in the hippie jam world, but their roots in the bayou make them a great go-to for a get up and dance end to the day. With Corey Henry on trombone and a charismatic young female vocalist added to the regular crew of Ben Ellman on sax, birthday boy Rich Vogel on keys, and the timekeeper Stanton Moore on drums, Galactic was the perfect end to a renewed Newport Jazz Festival.
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