The Newport Jazz Festival begins with swing, soul, and a sprinkle of pop
Carter, 88, first appeared at Newport with Davis 60 years ago. In recent years, he has often brought his unparalleled touch and famously dapper suites to the festival's smaller stages. He had no trouble keeping that sense of intimacy at the large Fort Stage with his Foursight Quartet. Saxophonist Jimmy Greene, pianist Renee Rosnes, and the hard swinging drummer Payton Crossley all showed why they're among Carter's favorite collaborators. An extended Carter bass solo touched on everything from Bach to 'You Are My Sunshine' while the audience remained impressively hushed.
Not all of the jazz came from the elders. The day started with Tyreek McDole, who, in his mid-20s, is clearly ready to be added to the short list of current noteworthy male jazz vocalists. Singing Billy Strayhorn's 'Lush Life' with just pianist Caelan Cardello, McDole's rich baritone cast the kind of spell that even the loud ringing of a phone in the crowd couldn't break.
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South Africa's BCUC,
Sanabria was preceded on the Harbor Stage by another one of the standout acts, alto saxophonist Darius Jones, who like Sanabria is New York-based but hasn't played Boston in over a decade. Jones was the day's main representative of the avant-garde, opening his trio set with the scorched earth of 'We Outside.'
Keyboardist Uri Caine has often been another part of the outsider jazz world, but on Friday he crafted groove jazz with Christian McBride, DJ Logic, and Questlove, who reconvened as a group called The Philadelphia Experiment. Questlove also ended the day with The Roots, the house band for 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' (and the unofficial house band of hip-hop). Their mixtape-style set still sounded fresh nearly 40 years after the group's inception.
Sofi Tukker, a dance music duo that formed at Brown University, garnered a massive turnout. Most of their material was drawn from 'butter,' a record they made in Brazil with producer Marcio Arantes, who joined in on bass. Even in downtempo jazz-adjacent mode, it was still a dance party, bolstered by tropical versions of their hit 'Purple Hat' and 'All That She Wants' by Ace of Base.
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The end of the afternoon featured back-to-back performances inspired by classic soul. Like
The tender falsetto crooning of Thee Sacred Souls's lead singer Josh Lane showed why the band has become the most popular of the West Coast soul ballad revivalists. Lane spent much of the set in the aisles directly serenading the audience, and offered one of the only political statements of the day when he argued that Palestinian, Congolese, and Sudanese people deserved freedom.
Raye and Thee Sacred Souls – artists often found at pop festivals – were well-received, but so were the heavy hitters from the jazz world. It was an indication that while Newport might have found the formula for commercial success, it still draws an attentive and enthusiastic audience of jazz lovers.
NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL
At Fort Adams State Park, Newport, R.I., Friday
Noah Schaffer can be reached at
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