Newport Jazz Festival 2021 closed their sold-out weekend on Sunday. The final day found this writer camped mostly at the Quad Stage to take in four consecutive stellar acts which featured three NEA Jazz Masters. We managed to catch brief pieces of some of the Lawn Stage sets but missed The Bogie Band and Robert Glasper’s Black Radio. The programming was much like the previous two days. The hard-core jazz acts were mostly at Quad and crossover acts, that appealed to primarily younger audiences, appeared on the Lawn Stage, especially in the late afternoon. It does take 7-10 minutes to walk to the two stages and we clocked our total walking time at six-plus miles on Saturday. Yes, some weariness was beginning to set in as well…until the music started.
The opener was a “Newport Jazz Festival Exclusive,” as proclaimed by Christian McBride introducing The Vibes Summit featuring vibraphonists Warren Wolf, Joel Ross, and Sasha Berliner backed by the Emmet Cohen Trio. The three vibraphonists began with a with solo and ensemble parts for all three vibraphonists. Warren Wolf did two pieces including a vocal on his cover of Roy Ayers’ “In the Sunshine.” Berliner, and Ross each had a turn before all three returned for the finale. Impressive solos from pianist Cohen capped off a delightful set.
On the Lawn Stage harpist Brandee Younger looked resplendent aside her beautiful gold harp with her trio featuring bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Allan Mednard. Before introducing Younger, Artistic Director Christian McBride said, “The beautiful thing about this festival is when someone is making their debut appearance you know they are going to be a part of the jazz family for years to come”. Early in her set, she brought out fellow harpist Mikaela Davis, (like Danielle Ponder, from Rochester, NY) who played a tune from Dorothy Ashby, who, along with Alice Coltrane, had paved the way for this instrument. Younger then delivered a medley of tunes by Alice Coltrane before launching into some R&B type of material from her album Somewhere Different, which hits Friday. Younger was followed by brass-studded David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band bringing rousing traditional jazz to the delight of many festival veterans.
The Kenny Barron/Dave Holland Trio featured two NEA Jazz Masters – Barron, the pianist and Holland, the bassist, along with esteemed young drummer Johnathan Blake for a swinging, and varied acoustic set drawn mostly from their 2020 album, Without Deception on Holland’s Dare2 Records. Among the compositions played were “Porto Alegre,” “the title track, “Pass It On,” and “Warm Valley.’ The Jazz Gallery All-Stars comprised of mostly next generation players followed. They are vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Gerald Clayton, alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, guitarist Charles Altura, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Each soloist shined but the set reached its apex when vocalist Renee Neufville delivered a heartfelt tribute to the late Roy Hargrove and followed that with a couple of swinging numbers.
Much anticipated was the set form 83-year-old spiritual force, NEA Jazz Master Charles Lloyd, who proved to be a major highlight. Dedicating his set to George Wein, Lloyd’s quintet featured pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Harish Raghaven, drummer Eric Harland, and guitarist Marvin Sewell. The ever-explorative Lloyd mesmerized the audience with mostly recent material – “Dream Weaver,” “Dismal Swamp” which he played on alto flute quoting Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” and including some filthy, earthy blues from Sewell. This writer can’t be sure but thinks we heard Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” and Ornette Coleman’s “Ramblin’” as well.
Our return to the Lawn Stage found Christian McBride, Mikaela Davis, Marco Benevento, Joe Russo, and John Scofield engaged in a rousing Jam Jawn. The interplay of McBride, who played both electric and acoustic bass, and Scofield was the apex of jamming, as they worked their way through familiar themes including Miles Davis’ “It’s About That Time” from his In a Silent Way album. The set was already at combustible levels when David Ostwald’s band along with Stuart Bogie added horns and banjo for a stirring close. Recording and screen star Andra Day closed. Before bringing Andra Day out, McBride (back in his emcee role) took a moment to FaceTime Newport Jazz founder George Wein. During the call, Wein said hello to the crowd and thanked everyone for their support, a very cool moment. Day did a mix of her hits and Billie Holiday fare, closing with her hit “Rise Up.”
Five and a half hours later this writer was back in PA, not having listened to one note of music in the car on the way, just replaying all the glorious sounds over the three days and thinking how great the fully restored festival will be in 2022. In the meantime, 2021 was a winner on so many levels.
Photos by Mary Hynes
