Jazz fans heading to Newport yesterday looking for a day or two�s respite from hard multiplication got their money�s worth: big names, memorable performances and great weather.
Yesterday�s JVC Jazz Festival Newport at Fort Adams State Park
had all trio, with the forecast as well looking hopeful for today, when Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock headline.
Sunny skies and memorable performances you can�t control condition, but the scheduled artists, you can. The festival�s organizers went for stone-broke this twelvemonth, just like they did at last weekend�s Newport Folk Festival, mixing genres with stars and hot newcomers to appeal to the widest possible audience.
And it�s a winning formula, with a large throng on hand wandering 'tween three stages to take heed headliner Aretha Franklin and the kind of melodic variety that festival crowds have come to expect: groove jazz, traditional, r & b, contemporary and post-bop.
Tom Shepard, CEO of Festival Network, which took over from George Wein last year, told the Herald he aims for premium eclecticist programming that preserves Newport�s tradition - but the crowds were more concerned with just soaking up as much as they could of the day�s offerings.
The principal stage featured knockout performances by powerhouse quartets light-emitting diode by bassist Dave Holland and reed man Wayne Shorter respectively, a bewitching set by charismatic trumpet superstar Chris Botti and a hot mix of gospel soul by Ledisi.
The day was nothing if not eclectic. Singer Melody Gardot, 23, used her maple-syrup-pure interpreter to breed songs from her �Worrisome Heart� CD and the likes of �Ain�t No Sunshine,� emoting the kind of quiet passion that has made her one of jazz�s most buzzed-about stars.
Several bands showed only how hefty true group interplay john be, from Brian Blade and his Fellowship band to the trio of Bill Frisell, Ethan Iverson and Charlie Haden.
Botti wowed the crowd by moving into the audience at one head, while Franklin, looking diva-esque in white and sounding like the Queen of Soul she is, open with a Sly and the Family Stone medley and rocketed into stumble after arrive at from there.
It was time to stand up and party by then, and the audience was muckle warmed up for it.
JVC Jazz Festival Newport At Fort Adams State Park,
this weekend.
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