The Newport Jazz Festival has sprung back to life after years of syrupy or moldy fig offerings. Last year's outing included an epic performance from Kamasi Washington. The Saturday lineup went as follows:
Christian McBride Big Band: Bandleader bassist and voice of Jazz Night in America had a crew of Allstars on the main stage gave a taste of Mingus.
Vijay Iyer Sextet: Genius Grant recipient and piano visionary Iyer travels with this amazing piano that exudes a full and varied sound. His runs are speedy and effortless, an excellent modern bandleader.
Dominick Farinacci: Not familiar with this young trumpet player. Came with accordion and had a young singer blow up Screamin Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell on You.
Rhiannon Giddens: Lead vocalist and banjo player for The Carolina Chocolate Drops was an odd choice for the mid-afternoon main stage act. Giddens has chops as shown on her Dylan takes on The New Basement Tapes recording. Her blend of old timey tunes and spirituals was a good break from the straight ahead offerings.
DJ Logic and Project Logic was a no-show, claiming to be "caught in traffic". While I've seen Logic many times in many incarnations, he seems to have a penchant for the no-show. Jason Moran and Vijay Iyer stepped in for a piano-centric fill in for Logic.
Allen, Carrington, Spalding: Geri Allen passed away in June and it seems the festival had time to change the program to a tribute to this excellent pianist. You guessed it, the versatile Vijay Iyer stayed on the stage with Teri Lynne Carrington on drums and Esperanza Spalding on bass. This was a great trio that I would hope to see more of. Spalding soared on the signature Allen tune Feed The Fire.
Antonio Sanchez and Migration: Building on his award winning soundtrack from Birdman, Sanchez' drum centered group rocked the Harbor Stage.
HenryThreadgill Zooid: Threadgill's large unit is not easy listening. Threadgill on bass flute and sax, with drums, guitar, tuba, and cello played to a small but fervent avant grade jazz crowd. Last time I saw this group was in the great acoustics of Wesleyan's Crowell Hall, the sound was swallowed up by the swirling winds of the fort.
Snarky Puppy: A downtown collaborative collective, SN closed the Saturday show with a bang. Multiple drums, guitars, keys, and horns SN seems like summer camp for sidemen. The group reminds me of The Lounge Lizards whose album Voices of Chunk is the namesake of this blog. While Lurie's Lizards had a distinct leader and task-master, SN seemed like the Occupy Movement's answer to downtown jazz. Some leadership is needed in a group that size to make sure that all participants are moving in the same direction. I enjoyed this group because I was close enough for critical viewing. The sound back by the portolets probably was more like a jazz boho train wreck.
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