Newport Jazz Festival, Saturday, August 4 at Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI
During the first weekend in August, we made our way to the Newport Jazz Festival once again. It was a hot weekend but unlike the previous weekend at the folk festival, there was no rain! For your viewing pleasure a visual recap of the festival. The complete photo collection can be seen HERE.
Fort Stage
Things kicked off on the main stage with John Ellis & Double-Wide. More photos HERE.
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| John Ellis |
Up next, Bill Frisell played John Lennon songs. I spoke to a lot of people who were excited by and loved the set. I personally prefer the edgier Lennon songs of which he didn't play. More photos HERE.
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| Bill Frisell |
Darcy James Argue's Secret Society were up next. Their opening number reminded me of one of those songs you'd hear in an old school television crime show or in a James Bond movie. More photos HERE.
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| Darcy James Argue |
Vocalist Dianne Reeves and her band took the main stage next. More photos HERE.
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| Dianne Reeves |
Closing out the day was the Pat Metheny Unity Band. More photos HERE.
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| Pat Metheny |
Quad Stage
The Pedrito Martinez Group kicked things off in the Quad. They had the early afternoon audience dancing. I was even tempted to do a little dancing myself but I didn't want to frighten anyone. More photos HERE.
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| Pedrito Martinez |
The Jack DeJohnette Group were up next. DeJohnette who has been celebrating his 70th birthday, taking to stages and showing why he is regarded as a master. He played two sets, I missed the performance he did with his All Stars who closed out the Quad stage for the day. More photos HERE.
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| Jack DeJohnette |
Then, the James Carter Organ Trio with Rodney Jones. The moment I arrived at the stage, I got distracted by Carter's mint green outfit and as a result, the music never fully gained my attention, sorry. That sounds a bit shallow, huh? More photos HERE.
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| James Carter |
The Bad Plus with Bill Frisell were next. They paid tribute to drummer Paul Motian. This was Frisell's second of three appearances of the weekend. More photos HERE.
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| Reid Anderson of The Bad Plus |
Harbor Stage
Kicking things off on the Harbor stage was the RIMEA Senior All-State Jazz Ensemble. More photos HERE.
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| RIMEA Senior All-State Jazz Ensemble |
Bassist Christian McBride brought his Inside Straight to the stage next. More photos HERE.
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| Christian McBride |
Up next, drummer Dafnis Prieto took the stage to lead his sextet. More photos HERE.
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| Dafnis Prieto |
My final trip to the Harbor stage was to catch a bit of the Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Quintet: Sound Prints. More photos HERE.
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| Joe Lovano |
The Audience
More photos HERE.
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| Couple dancing during the Pedrito Martinez Group set. |
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| A young jazz fan. |
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| Even her hair was purple. |
Coming soon ... Day 3, also known as Sunday.
