Newport Jazz Festival celebrated its 65th year with performances from jazz greats like Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, modern draws in Kamasi Washington and Corinne Bailey Rae and performances from the likes of Common and Tank and the Bangas that said loud and clear that hip hop is the new jazz.
Both the Jazz and Newport Folk Festival are held on back to back weekends, booked by the same non-profit and held at Fort Adams State Park. The location is literally a retired naval fort surrounded by Newport Harbor and with stages both in and outside of the fort’s walls, the various venues provide attendees with numerous unique spaces to take in music without being bothered by the acoustics and foot traffic of the other stages.
The Fort Stage serves as the main venue for acts and showcases the exterior of the fort behind the stage itself while the Newport Harbor surrounds the audience from the other three sides. The Fort itself always serves as a sort of headliner and when the weather is right, the harbor essentially gives attendees a beach day in addition to their festival experience. It can’t be overstated how significant Fort Adams State Park is to the Newport experience. Even folks without tickets get in on the party by parking their sail boats and yachts in the harbor as close to the Fort Stage as possible. The end result is a hodgepodge party at sea of loosely assembled vessels that look like the floating atoll in Waterworld if it went on Dead tour.
On Friday, the Fort Stage featured a set from Corinne Bailey Rae highlighted by a unique arrangement on a cover of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love.” Up next was the Neo-Funk Pseudo Afrofuturism of six-string bassist Thundercat whose technical proficiency is as jaw-dropping as anyone who’s come along since Victor Wooten. Thundercat is part of a multi-genre clique of musicians who have all expanded the horizons of each other’s projects. Thundercat, Jazz/EDM artist Flying Lotus, sax player Kamasi Washington and rap god Kendrick Lamar have been collaborating together for some time with producer Terrace Martin, who as a member of Herbie Hancock’s touring band, introduced the elder statesman to the crew. While details are scarce, Hancock has been working with members of the crew on his new album. Martin even reported on social media that Quincy Jones was in the studio with them at one point in time.
Following Thundercat’s set, Hancock took the Fort Stage for a headlining slot highlighted by Headhunters era-tunes “Actual Proof,” and “Chameleon.” Hancock is arguably the greatest living pianist on the face of the earth, and most folks who don’t consider him the absolute greatest would still rank him second behind Chick Corea. Longtime drummer Vinnie Colaiuta is as elite as a hired gun can get, boasting a resume of roles backing up artists ranging from Sting to Frank Zappa. Guitarist Lionel Loueke demonstrated his mastery of tonality by mimicking the near-exact tone of Hancock’s note-bending synth playing and using other songs to summon percussive sounds executed by using his instrument in a way that isn’t remotely conventional. There have been plenty of young guns in Hancock’s band over the years, but you could tell by the way he spoke about Terrace Martin that he sees exceptional greatness in the multi-instrumentalist. With Martin on sax and Hancock wielding his Roland AX-Synth Keytar, the 79-year-old icon looked on at his young protégée with the joy of a proud jazz grandpa. The lesson learned: Find someone in your life who looks at you the way Herbie looks at Terrace Martin.
Kamasi Washington, on tour with Hancock, headlined the Fort Stage on Saturday but the best action of the day took place on the Quad Stage. Unlike the harbor side expanse of the Fort Stage, the Quad Stage is set up in the middle of the courtyard created by the fort’s walls. A big sell for attendees was the chance to see Herbie Hancock with two groups in two days and his set on the Quad Stage Saturday afternoon was an acoustic trio featuring Colaiuta on drums and Christian McBride, artistic director of the festival, on bass. The set started with a Wayne Shorter tune and kept plowing forward into uncharted territory. Given the predictability of Hancock’s shows with his full touring band, getting to see him take risks with irregular material in an alternative format was one of the most exciting live opportunities Hancock’s fans have had in years.
Following Hancock’s trio on the Quad Stage was Ghost-Note, an ensemble assembled by Snarky Puppy’s percussion section that has the reputation as a side project but is a juggernaut in its own right. Drummer Robert “Sput” Searlight and percussionist Nate Werth put together a brutally effective horn section and a secret weapon in bassist MonoNeon. The bassist born Dwayne Thomas Jr. has a tone and style all his own that plays a big part in the group’s identity. He has a cartoonish style and look and his maneuverability up and down the neck of his bass had him playing with Prince up until the Purple One’s last days. Sput might be the band leader but MonoNeon proved to be the real standout of the group.
The festival came to a close with back to back Fort Stage sets by Tanks and the Bangas followed by Common. Tarriona “Tank” Ball was easily the most exciting performer of the weekend, with her Nicki Minaj-meets-Fraggle Rock persona and while the band as a whole was solid, the standout instrumentalist was their guitarist who was way more Eddie Van Halen than Wes Montgomery. The NOLA-based act blended rap with soul and funk and r&b seamlessly and while some folks already loved them and spent the weekend waiting to see them, anyone new to Tank and the Bangas went home raving about the electric performance they saw as the penultimate set of the weekend.
There’s not much left to say about Common that hasn’t already been said. He’s a rapper, he’s an actor and seeing as he’s just a Tony Award short of an EGOT, he’s absolutely broaching into icon territory. Common was absolutely the biggest commercial draw on the bill and even for folks who aren’t big fans, it was certainly exciting to see the man in the flesh. His set had the promise of being a storyteller hour but he took the format too literally, starting out on a leather chair with a lamp, trying his hardest to look pensive as he recounted the hardship of his past. The whole fireside chat thing was a bit lame but he masterfully commanded the stage with sheer charisma and once he stood up and engaged with his crowd, it was impossible to look away.
Intentional or not, having both Common and Tank and the Bangas close out the festival was a bold statement about the current state of the jazz scene and the role hip hop has in its future. When jazz was in its infancy, it terrified white America. Stores literally sold “Jazz-Proof Furniture” and parents feared the infectious rhythms of composed improvisations corrupting their children in a way that just wasn’t Christian. A good century later, and we’re already a generation deep in what is essentially the institutionalization of jazz music. Far from feared, it is now celebrated, studied academically and a choice genre for Wine and Cheese White America. This isn’t a knock on the genre, it’s acknowledgment from our society that the push back against the genre was on the wrong side of history and jazz deserves to be cherished. With that said, it wasn’t long ago that hip hop took jazz’s place as the genre of choice for White America to fear. 2Live Crew was literally outlawed. NWA wound up in the crosshairs of the FBI and as Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” became the anthem of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, he too has become a regular target of several of the White Supremacists on Fox News. KRS-One famously said “Rap is something you do, Hip Hop is something you live,” and while jazz and rap are incredibly different musical genres, in a lot of ways, those early jazz pioneers were the prototypical icons whose spirit fueled the founding of hip hop.
Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize, which is about as bold an acceptance by the establishment as one can get, and we’re a generation removed from the days when hip hop was literally illegal in parts of Florida. But just like jazz, this simply demonstrates that history is on the side of hip hop and that it’s following the trajectory of acceptance jazz music followed. Ghost-Note is NOT rap music but they’ve got hip-hop swagger. A handful of jazz artists on the bill have collaborated with rappers and the 65th anniversary of Newport Jazz Festival came to a close with back to back sets by powerful hip hop artists. Newport Jazz had great weather, stunning acoustics, an awesomely eclectic lineup and near-perfect logistics but more than any, the real take away from Newport Jazz Festival was the message that hip hop is the new jazz.
Photos by Andrew Bruss
