Newport Jazz Festival 8/2/24 Fort Adams Newport RI

 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of this storied event. Ever since “Jazz Night in America” host Christian McBride took the reins, the festival lineup has been varied, interesting, and ambitious. Let’s talk about the Friday:

Aneesa Strings: Young black woman on standup bass and vocals. Like a more grounded Esperanza Spalding, Aneesa sang and rapped to great effect. Good version of the Nina Simone chestnut My Baby Just Cares For Me.

Sun Ra Arkestra: The legendary, interplanetary troupe files on to the main stage. Sixteen strong, the band four saxes, three trumpets, two trombones, guitar, drummers, keys, and a female singer. To be accepted in this group, you must wear shiny, sequined, flowing costumes. The baritone sax player was dressed in full shiny King Tut headdress. While Sun Ra departed this astral plane years ago, the show must go on. I was hoping to get a glimpse of Sun Ra’s “veep”, Marshall Allen. Original member and saxman Allen turned 100 a few months back and still comes out to honk at the heavens. Another sax player and obvious bandleader stated that Marshall had “other business”. Dip in to the Sun Ra catalog and you are just as likely to get bossa nova as you are free jazz blowouts. The bandleader, also in his 70s, thought it would be a good idea to do multiple flips and breakdance during one tune. When he returned to his seat, I saw one elder sax player mouth “you crazy motherfucker” at him while he was laughing. Sun Ra’s indelible mark on jazz was a great start to this fest and a rousing rendition of Angels and Demons at Play put a big smile on my face.

Jaleel Shaw: Alto and soprano sax player Shaw has done time with the Roy Haynes Quartet. Shaw’s quartet featured some young lions; pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Dezron Douglas, and drummer Joe Dyson Jr. The tunes were all originals and tasty.

Bill Frisell Four: Bill on guitar, Greg Tardy on saxes and clarinets, Gerald Clayton on piano, and Jonathan Blake on drums. Frisell seems to be on the spectrum, the far reaches of the jazz spectrum that is. His stop start delivery must be difficult for band members to follow. Like Monk, I’m sure the music resides very much in Bill’s head and the trick is to take the band along for the ride. What better way to start than a cover of Monk’s WellYou Needn’t. Having played with the likes of Bill Laswell and Ginger Baker, Frisell’s low key chameleonic presence is a joy to watch.

Brandee Younger: Jazz harpist Younger must  get tired of the Alice Coltrane comparisons. Younger has contributed to such distinguished artists  as Common, Lauryn Hill, and Pharoah Sanders. During the pandemic, she streamed some excellent music from her living room with partner bassist Dezron Douglas.

Galactic w/ Irma Thomas: New Orleans jam staple Galactic has been grooving audiences since the early aughts. Helmed by sax man Ben Ellman and drummer Stanton Moore, this group is the house band for the NOLA jazz fest.  The group recently purchased the legendary music venue Tipitina’s to have a home base and collaboration hub. On this tour, Galactic shares the bus with NOLA vocal legend Thomas. Irma is responsible for the Stones hit Time Is On My Side.Today’s set had them reach way back to their first record Crazyhorse Mongoose.

Corey Wong: Guitarist Wong is a repeat performer at the fest. Speedy runs and big band flash were dizzying. Wong pulls Dave Matthews sax man Jeff Coffin on stage for some jammy workouts. Wong’s nerdy presence is outshined by his fret work virtuosity.

Aja Monet: Sultry poetess Monet spit socially conscious verse over a jazzy backdrop. A power to the people vibe was on full display. One fella played this odd instrument that looked like an elongated brass bass clarinet, seemed like a pantooker or a jing-tingler from Whoville.

PJ Morton:  Grammy winning r and b big band fronted by singer Morton. PJ explains they recently came off a tour of Africa from Capetown to Cairo. Morton is musical director for Beyoncé’s sister Solange. The set effortlessly swayed from soul to gospel.

Andre 3000: Dre came to fame as creator of Outkast. Whenever the song Hey Ya came out, you could not go anywhere without hearing it. Fast forward an Uber famous decade and Andre decided to take a detour. Legend has it that Andre was playing his wooden flute in a park when some random old guy told him to take the music on the road. OK. I’m sure that Andre doing the Wordle will attract a million views, so playing a new age flute set on the Newport Jazz stage seems like a good fit.

Kenny Barron: Philly piano legend Barron took his trio to the harbor stage. Playing with such jazz luminaries as Roy Haynes, Lee Morgan, and Dizzy Gillespie, the resume is unparalleled. Nice standard jazz set with the piano, bass, and drums.

Brittany Howard: Alabama Shakes vocalist does a decidedly neo-soul set. A commanding stage presence coupled with a tight band delivers an excellent set. Songs of love and loss are expertly delivered. While I never fully latched on to the Shakes sound, I will do some digging on Howard’s solo work.

Kamasi Washington: Kamasi is a young torch bearer of the world of jazz. Bridging the jazz rap soul plexus he effortlessly blows life into all three. Travels with an LA based troupe of musicians, a modern big band of sorts. The music is sprawling and ambitious. Each Kamasi release is pored over by the jazz elders. Ricky Washington, Kamasi’s sax wailing father comes out for a family skronkfest. Exhausting but fulfilling day.

Grails w/ Soma 7/2/24 Spaceland

 Made the last tune for Soma. Looked like a Hare Krishna gathering onstage with six or seven musicians sitting. The instruments were Indian, tabla, drums, and various percussion that were played along with their chanting. Some of these musicians had flowing robes and were barefoot, not sure if I would take my chances on Spaceland’s floor hygiene.

Grails are a Portland OR based instrumental band. Like a lighter Sunn))) O or Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Grails offer a heady stew of sounds. Two guitars, synths/keys, drums, and bass ebbed and swelled the sound. Grails have been around for a decade or so and have  released a steady diet of under the  radar records. The drummer and bass player are definitely driving the train and both seem to be comfortable with some metal in their songs. One tune had the bass player moving to treated pedal steel that sounded so Floydian it was Obscured By Clouds. The bassist also played a Native American wooden flute to great effect. Closing tune was a delicious Krautrock workout with throbbing bass and motorik drumming. Instrumental music allows the band to get creative with song titles, chestnuts like “Lord I HateYour Day” and “Almost Grew My Hair” were some of the offerings. It’s hard not to think of this music as a film score, themes from an imaginary interplanetary western I think.

Dobet Gnahore 6/28/24 New Haven Green

 Second to last day of this year’s International Arts and Ideas festival featured Ivory Coast singer, dancer, and percussionist Gnahore. A striking stage presence, she had an outfit that was adorned with shells, crimson dyed hair that flowed down to her calves, and a pirate hat made from purple feathers. She danced and played a variety of bangables: shoulder drum, floor tom, gourds, shakers, and congas. While dancing and flailing around the drums, it connoted a sense of African ritual. She sang in French and closed each tune with a “merci beaucoup”. As colorful as she was, her band seemed to be a motley collection of Caucasian basement stoners from East Haven ,complete with backward baseball hats. Gnahore was in some serious shape and I was worried that her outfit or hair could send her tumbling. Relatively sparse crowd for a cool Friday night.

Green River Festival 6/22/24 Greenfield MA

 Annual pilgrimage to central Mass for a lo-fi smorgasbord of music known as the GRF. Set on the Franklin County Fairgrounds,  this fest prides itself on the eclectic mix of artists.

Pachyman: LA-based Puerto Rican nerd PM was first up on the second stage. Legend has it he collects odd musical and recording gear to produce an Esquivel meets Prince Far I stew of old school reggae riddims. On stage with bass and drums, PM played guitar, melodica, and effects. Dub, echo, reverb, the reggae beat were all on display.

Bonny Light Horseman: Alt country trio consisting of Anais Mitchell, Eric Johnson, and  Josh Kaufman. I’ve seen Mitchell in her early solo years at this fest. A confident singer and playwright, Anais is responsible for the Broadway hit Hadestown. Johnson was part of the excellent indie outfit the Fruitbats, and a capable vocal foil to Mitchell. Kaufman was lead guitar but they all played guitars or banjos. These artists have collaborated with the likes of The Shins, The War on Drugs, Bob Weir, Taylor Swift, Hiss Golden Messenger, and The Hold Steady. In your face vocals and vocal harmonies coupled with excellent songwriting made this group compelling.

Hannah Mohan: Not to be confused with Hannah Montana, Mohan is a local artist who I see listed on the newly re-opened club listing for The  Iron Horse in nearby Northampton. Indie rocking quartet, HM had a good local contingent of fans to cheer her on.

Joy Oladokun: Nashville singer and guitarist Oladokun was next on the main stage. Well crafted folk tunes seemed to get lost on the crowd. She has a couple of hits that are recognizable, and the comparison to Tracy Chapman both in looks and sound were apt.

Mdou Moctar: Hendrix from Niger, Moctar has been positively reviewed here before. As a lefty guitar wizard, Moctar whirled the crowd dervishly with his desert assault. Singing in his native tongue, Moctar seems to have developed a confident stage presence since my viewing a few years back. The Greenfield crowd grooved and appreciated this exotic artist.

S.G. Goodman: Western Kentucky twanger had a powerful multi octave vocal range. She was supported by an expert crew of country musicians including a beautiful pedal steel sound. She told a hysterical story about a goodie bag she received playing a Willie Nelson fest (readers can do the math here), and played an excellent set including a Waylon Jennings cover.

Fleet Foxes: Seattle based indie folk outfit Fleet Foxes closed the day on the main stage. This group has some Grammy nods and had excellent vocal harmony flourishes reminiscent of The Beach Boys or The Zombies. There seemed to be at least six musicians onstage and they jumped around to various instruments. Guitars, brass, percussion augmented the vocal harmony piece. They pulled Mitchell and Johnson (from BLH) on stage for a ballsy cover of Joni Mitchell’s Hejira.

Given the current state of the climate, we were happy to wait out a 1.5 inch deluge that soaked a few opening acts. The food, the company, and the music will keep me coming back to this under the radar but expertly arranged regional showcase.

Kevin Harris: Roots, Water, & Sunlight 6/17/24 Beinecke Library

 Another Arts and Ideas event billed as a “contemporary wind octet expedition through the expressions of James Baldwin”.  Kevin Harris seems to be a modern classical composer who conducted and played piano and synths. I couldn’t really see the octet, but I could hear French horn, trombone, trumpet, and sax and could see standup bass and drums. For those who have never been in this building, I’ll break it down. You enter across a courtyard behind Woolsey (now Schwarzman) Hall. The library houses Yale’s collection of rare books and manuscripts and current Juneteenth exhibition had a wealthy patrons collection of the writings of Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, and the political cartoons of Oliver Harrington. When you enter the building, you see the permanent collection housed in a glassed-in inner sanctum that stretches from floor to ceiling. A glass silo allows one to see the spines of these ancient texts in a bibliobelisk of sorts. There are only ground floor windows, the mezzanine and upper floors are walled with opaque marble. Yes you read right, marble that allows diffuse light to enter based on the strength of the sun. I assume the marble adds a layer of protection against tome killing UV rays. The musicians were awkwardly placed on the mezzanine and 75 chairs were set nearby obscuring the view. Fortunately the sound was not obscured. The three movements had passages from Baldwin and others, some taped gospel numbers that stretched the music of the octet. It reminded me of the jazzy Blood On The Fields production by Wynton Marsalis back in the 90s. Standing room only for this unusual and challenging music.

The Ebony Hillbillies w/Cecilia 6/16/24 New Haven Green

 First Sunday of the International Festival of Arts and Ideas Started with Québécois trio Cecilia. Accordion, fiddle, and a young woman on organ. Celtic fusion with a French twist, these three were built for speed. The instrumentation allowed for fluid segues among ethnicities. They played an Edith Piaf tune at breakneck speed.

The Ebony Hillbillies are an NYC group of  pickers that appeared to be in their 70s. They started with a Native American invocation to “honor their elders”. Two female singers and a motley crew of guitar, banjo, bass, washboard gave an authentic string band sound. Good version of the Howling Wolf classic, Spoonful.

Will Bernard’s Pond Life 6/7/24 Firehouse 12

 Final offering of the Firehouse spring schedule did not disappoint. Pond Life is a trio with Bernard on guitar, Chris Lightcap on bass, and the omnipresent Ches Smith on drums. The original incarnation of this group included Tim Berne on sax. Bernard’s C.V. has him appearing on releases by Don Cherry and Galactic. In the 90s he formed the Bay Area guitar supergroup T.J.Kirk with Charlie Hunter. Playing the music of Thelonious Monk, James Brown, and Roland Kirk, T.J. embodied Will and Charlie’s reverence for the masters in a groove setting. Lightcap is a stalwart downtown presence and seemed unfazed by the pyrotechnics of the guitar and drum interplay. Ches Smith is the best drummer you’ve never heard of. He is tireless, appearing in countless groups spanning free improv to jammy groove settings. His Haitian percussion group, positively reviewed here last year, had him driving the train behind 10 musicians. Happy then, to be sitting right in front of the kit for a close view of this amazing drummer. They played some cuts from the Pond Life release and some older tunes from a Bernard/Smith collab from 2004. Smith seems to be in his 30s which would make him a teenager in 04. The beauty of this group is their telepathic ability to shift from hard driving groove to free jazz at the drop of a hat. Speaking of hats, Will’s star-studded Medicine Hat release from the late 90s still brings me joy. Can’t wait for the fall lineup to come out.