2019 Newport Jazz Festival
Long post (1500 words)
2019 NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL
I am not a jazzoid,
the term used by Dick Stein of Tacoma, Washington’s independent radio station KNKX to denote true jazz fans. A degree of deep knowledge is assumed if one
is to claim that title. I remember when
I lived in Maine at the beginning of my medical career. I would shop for music at The Record Connection (as I recall), a small record store in Waterville for
new music and for albums recommended by my friend and music guru, David C. Post
(also the local postman, I’m not shitting you).
David lived in a small house off the main drag between Pittsfield and
Hartland, where I was a General Practitioner at the community owned medical
center. David organized his music cassette
collection on high shelves that surrounded the house, on the upper walls near
the ceiling. Just like those toy choo-choo trains that
lined some destination family restaurants.
Steeped as I was in new releases by David Bowie (Let’s Dance) or Michael Jackson (Thriller)
and finding gems such as The Golden Age
of Wireless, by Thomas Dolby, I felt that the world of Jazz was too
much for me, I was too busy keeping up with pop music. I thought to myself, “I’m getting there, but
not quite yet.” Immersion in Jazz music
was assumed to be a foregone conclusion, but I wasn’t ready.
There was an
administrator at the local hospital in Pittsfield, Maine who first
suggested that I take a listen to Herbie Hancock’s Takin’ Off,
which includes the track Watermelon
Man. This might be the beginning of
my career as a “weekend jazz fan”. You
know, like a “weekend hippy”, those who smoke pot and get the munchies and
maybe drop acid and wander around enjoying the intense beauty of all things
natural, musical, physical, but only on weekends. I was one of those. I did not wear a flower in my hair, did not
drop out, did not attend an orgy (on my list of regrets). But I did listen to some jazz (Alphonso Johnson, Maynard
Ferguson, Pat Matheny). Later on and
after I had moved to the Pacific Northwest, another music guru, the owner of a
small record store in Olympia, Washington recommended Ray Brown and Gene Harris’
effort Soular
Energy, which led me to an appreciation of a more classical type of
jazz (“bop”). And yet, all through my wanderings as a serious music fan, the
big musical epiphanies were all pop music.
I answer yes to the question “do you remember where you were when you
first heard ___” if the song in question is pop, but aside from Watermelon Man, there are few jazz
pieces that hit me hard enough to leave a lasting memory of the first time.
But truly, music
is music. We fans like what we like, but the artists are working from a palate
that includes all the genres, all the sounds that sentient beings have
produced. For some, the urge to grab
those notes and rhythms and beats is irresistible, and new music emerges. Others hear these creations and the resonance
produced is unmistakable. “That’s just right, I’m with you on that”. I don’t generally feel that resonance with “jazz”, although I know
the term has no universally accepted definition. A brilliant
Jazz composition might mean music
that is like a walk in the forest: if you pay attention, relax, and open up
your senses to whatever’s there (the sound of squirrels chewing on pine cones, the
music of the wind in the trees, birdsong, all the subtle shades of green,
dashes of wildflower color, sunbeams, the smell of the forest duff underfoot)
the walk can be sublime. Maybe a well-crafted
Pop tune by contrast could be
compared to summiting a peak in the Appalachians after scrambling up a steep
slope strewn with giant boulders. Both
are immersions in the sensual world, both sublime. I need to ask a jazzoid sometime the “where
were you when” question. Perhaps, unlike
me, they rarely have such moments, but are more attuned to ongoing everyday
amazement. Perhaps ultimately that’s
what jazz is, defined broadly: celebrating in music an awareness of the multilplex,
beautiful, fleeting experience we all share.
Sometime in
February or March, as part of our 2019 summer RV trip planning, I logged onto a
web site that presents Music Festivals in the US, 2019. This is how I found out that even though the Newport Folk Festival was sold out, one
week later on the same site would be held the 65th edition of George
Wein’s first festival creation, the Newport
Jazz Festival. The dates fit pretty
well with our summer road trip plans so Carol and I ordered our 3-day
passes.
The day before
the festival, we pulled into Paradise Park, the tiny RV lot 6 miles from Fort Adams State
Park, the festival grounds. It
was still early, so I hopped on the bike and set off to assess the feasibility
of commuting for 3 days by bike, as well as riding for 2.5 miles in the dark the first day, after
the special evening show featuring Jon
Batiste and friends, held at a separate venue closer to Paradise, the
International Tennis Museum. We ended up bike commuting and we appreciated the Bike Newport advocacy group for watching our bikes as we enjoyed the music.
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| Orrin Evans, The Bad Plus |
A note to readers on what follows: I tried to combine the
next two sections (“show notes” and “here’s who we saw”, but it got too
complicated. I’ll try to be more
organized next time.
It was a fantastic festival.
I would recommend it to anyone. Here are some of my notes and
reflections, along with some links that could be a lot of fun. Enjoy. By
the way, be sure to check this link out (Jazz
Night in America), recommended by Nate Chinen and Christian
McBride. Several of the artists we saw
at the festival were featured on the program.
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| Nate Chinen |
Show notes:
Christian McBride
introduced Marcus Strickland,
pointing out that Marcus has rhythmic qualities usually associated with
bassists.
Mwenso and the Shakes:
10 players, all dressed in red. 2
dancers one being a tap dancer, 2 singers, 2 horns.
Kandace Springs:
Big Hair, like Esperanza Spaulding.
Drums, flute, keys, bass. Sweet
piano!
Gary Bartz ended
with the theme from Star Trek.
Nate Chinen (author
of the new book on the future and history of Jazz, Playing for Changes introduced
the Bad Plus, noting that he works
with Christian McBride on the Show Jazz
Night in America (see above link). Songs played by the band: Salvages,
Safe Passage, Dovetail Nicely (Dave King).
Sheila Jordan: oldster with a
pageboy hairstyle. She performed a poem,
Dat Dere about
childhood and parenthood, great!
Makaya McCraven
also featured on Jazz Night. Nate
introduced again.
Herbie Hancock is 79 years old. He opened with a Wayne Shorter tune, Footprints.
Also played Fingerpainting
Ryan
Porter, Kamasi Washington’s trombone player has a lot of snap and a great
hat made out of coffee bean bag material.
Song: The Space Traveler’s
Lullaby. The last song, a strong
one, was Fist of Fury.
Joel Ross played the entire set with Makaya McCraven.
Here’s who we saw,
with my crib sheet based on reading and viewing material from the NJF and some
show notes added. website (Newport
Jazz Festival)
Friday:
1.
Mwenso and the Shakes. From Sierra Leone, South
Africa, London, France, Jamaica. Dance,
ebullient.
2.
Mark Stryker: Jazz From Detroit (brief sampling). Jazz in Detroit: Jazz seemed to die out
mid-century. This book covers period
from 1940 on. Over 2 dozen individual
artist profiles, including Milt Jackson and Yusef Latif. There was a northern migration, and Detroit
was a destination!
3.
Sun Ra Arkestra (brief sampling). 94 year old leader, Marshall Allen. Pretty dissonant.
4.
Kandace Springs. A singer, reminiscent of Nina
Simone, Sade, others.
5.
Domi and JD Beck. The future.
Sonic Jazz meets hip-hop backbeats.
They met via Robert Searight of Snarky Puppy.
6.
Corinne Bailey Rae. From Leeds, England. Young and beautiful, lots of collaborations.
7.
Gary Bartz and Another Earth. ’69, just before touring with Miles.
8.
The Bad Plus. Orrin Evans the new pianist and bassist
Reid Anderson have known each other for 20 years, and Orrin was a groomsman at
Reid’s wedding.
Saturday:
1.
The Royal Bopsters featuring Sheila Jordan. Cover of Twisted.
2.
Ralph
Peterson and the Messenger Legacy (brief sampling). Drummer. Tribute to Art Blakey. “The real deal”.
4.
Makaya McCraven.
Young drummer a “beat scientist”, Chicago, cross-cultural, cool. Reaches
out, it’s about the story more than the location.
5.
Hancock/McBride/Colaiuta
6.
Ghost Note.
Led by Snarky Puppy percussionists
Robert Searight and Nathan Wirth. Mono Neon is the bassist for Ghost
Note. Their last song was Fragile, dedicated to Art Neville.
7.
Kamasi Washington. No pre-notes.
Sunday:
1.
Sammy Miller and the Congregation. LA drummer.
3 horns plus keys; uplifting.
Feel good music, spreading joy thru music. Has played with Lady Gaga. The bassist plays the upright as well as tuba.
All musicians barefoot.
2.
In- Common with Walter Smith 3rd,
Matt Stevens, Joel Ross. Sweet!
3.
Marcus Strickland, Twi-Life (brief sampling)
4.
Sons of Kemet. Thrillingly “out there”, Dance,
reminds me of Magnetic Ear. From Birmingham and Barbados, they “create
euphoria”.
5.
Terrance Blanchard featuring the E-Collective
(brief sampling). Prophet. Music is
love. Music makes a change. Score of Blackklansman
E-Collective is amazing collaboration.
6.
Tank and the Bangas. The leader is Tarriona Ball.
7.
Common. Rap.
I Used to Love Her. Starred in Selma
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| Dave King, The Bad Plus |
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| Reid Anderson, The Bad Plus |
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