![]() At the main stage Friday afternoon August 2nd he received a hero's welcome from a giant crowd of jazz enthusiasts, many of which were heard talking about all the different periods and chameleon-styles they'd heard Hancock embody. Utilizing the universal language of music to express its central themes of peace and global responsibility, this release was recorded around the world and features a stellar group of musicians. Further expanding his renaissance range, in 2010 Hancock released the critically-acclaimed CD, Herbie Hancock's The Imagine Project (Sony Music, 2010), winner of two 2011 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration and Best Improvised Jazz Solo. Also winning an Oscar in 1986 for scoring the film Round Midnight based on famed jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon's performing life in Europe. The Artist-in-Residence for this year's event was Herbie Hancock, returning for the second time since 2014, an icon of the jazz world in every dimension, in addition to 14 Grammy awards and accolades: merging musical genres, exploring directions from the Miles Davis Quintet to avant-garde releases such as Empyrean Island (Blue Note, 1964) and on to funk and soul, Head Hunters (Columbia, 1973) and then electronic pop on Sunlight (Columbia, 1978) to jazz takes on contemporary songwriting with the multi-Grammy Award winning release River: The Joni Letters (Verve Records, 2007)a collaboration with close friend and songwriter Joni Mitchell. ![]() At this year's festival McBride joined stellar legendary jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock and esteemed session drummer Vinnie Colaiuta on stage for an intense set of innovations from a range of Hancock compositions from Maiden Voyage (Blue Note, 1966) to Head Hunters (Columbia, 1973) and opening with Wayne Shorter's classic standard "Footprints." The festival's line-up again would not disappoint jazz aficionados and newcomers alike with a range of diversity and depth of talent, both young and old, taking listeners from classical straight ahead jazz ( Ron Carter's Trio) to experimental (Sammy Miller and the Congregation) to the funky R&B mix with jazz ( Thundercat) back to the bebop sound and vocalist harmonies of the big band era ( The Royal Bopsters, featuring vocalist Sheila Jordan) and then to original orchestral compositions performed by an 18 piece band ( Darcy James Argue's Secret Society). ![]() A superbly multifaceted musician with boundless energy and always a smile, McBride has included himself in a variety of band performances at the Newport Jazz Festival since his newly appointed role by Wein two years ago. Wein's successor as Artistic Director since 2017, Christian McBride, award-winning up-right bassist, composer, educator, and band leaderhas put his stamp on this year's lineup, adding an incredible mix of diverse musicians. Wein was back again Friday night, August 2nd, at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, still going strong, to share a few words on stage about his special guest Jon Batiste, the New Orleans' jazz pianist and band leader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, who would be performing that evening with his band "Stay Human" and include other extraordinary musical friends. Ever the impresario, Wein made the roundsintroducing the festivals Artist-in-Residence, the legendary veteran jazz composer and keyboardist, Herbie Hancock (who would perform two separate sets this weekend), then moving on to help support a book discussion with Maxine Gordon, who was sharing her life as wife and partner of seminal saxophonist Dexter Gordon in her book, Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordonjust released. Moving from stage to stage, Wein still made his presence known at the Newport Jazz Festival and was recognized, cheered and genuinely appreciated by audiences and acknowledged in tribute by performing jazz musicians, many of which had their first major stage opportunity at Wein's festival. The standard bearer of the NJF, George Wein, at 93, the founder, original artistic director, and now the chairman of the Newport Festivals Foundation, is still very much present and engaged in the critical role of supporting, educating and promoting this vital art form, that is truly and uniquely American. ![]() Over the three fully packed days (and one special evening at the International Tennis Hall of Fame) from August 2nd to 4th, an amazing range of talent was on stage, from debut performances of up and coming artists, to the famed legendary veterans still bringing their muse, and all playing their hearts out. ![]() Newport Jazz Festival Fort Adams State Park Newport, RI August 2-4, 2019 The 65th Anniversary Newport Jazz Festival continued an established tradition of delivering an exceptional level of high quality musicianship. ![]()
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