Newport Jazz Festival
This is where it all happened! Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, and many more jazz icons played at the Newport Jazz Festival, and many of those performances were recorded for posterity. I’ve been curious to experience this legendary event for years.
As Newport Jazz newbies, we weren't sure what to expect. But I think we did a pretty good job. We bought discounted 3-day passes. We booked a bed and breakfast in a quiet residential neighborhood, just a mile from Newport Harbor (so that we could walk to the dock and take a ferry to the festival). With our camping chairs, mini-cooler, beach towel, water bottles, hats, and sunblock, we felt ready for anything.
We quickly learned a few things:
A “ferry” could be any kind of boat - seemingly everyone with a watercraft was helping out, which was great! We rode in small, medium, and large boats, and they were all fun.
We could leave our chairs out on the lawn in front of the Fort Stage (the largest one) while we visited the other stages. Everyone was doing it.
There was no shade around the Fort Stage, and the sun was merciless. Even for us long-time Floridians, it was really HOT. We refilled our water bottles frequently and treated ourselves to cups of delicious “soft frozen lemonade.” For extra sun protection, we put the beach towel on our legs and raised our umbrellas between sets.
The best part of Newport Jazz, of course, was the music. It was wonderful to be surrounded by live music, and to be among thousands of fellow music-lovers. Our favorites:
Samara Joy - She was the only festival artist we had seen before, in 2021 at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in New York City. She was only 21 years old and fresh out of college. We were thoroughly impressed with her distinctive voice, her maturity, and her rapport with the audience. It was thrilling to see her sing again, this time on the biggest stage at Newport Jazz, with two Grammy awards under her belt. She was fabulous!
Cory Wong - Wowza! We were blown away by his boundless energy, matched by his excellent band, with lots of brass. They had an infectious jazz-funk groove that brought the audience to their feet. I wanted more.
Riley Mulherkar - He’s a skilled trumpet plater and composer, and we’ll definitely be listening to his album. (Interestingly, halfway through his set, Security evacuated part of the tent due to a “suspicious package.” They brought dogs to investigate, but nothing harmful was found. The band played on through the whole thing.)
Sun Ra Arkestra - They began their set with a discordant cacophony that Steve loved and Maria didn’t…but the rest of their set was a big band wall of sound that we both loved.
Other performers we saw included the Bill Frisell Four, Moonchild, the all-female group Artemis, and Legacy of Wayne Shorter (with Ravi Coltrane). We also watched some excellent student bands. Imagine being kids at Jazz Camp who can honestly say they played at Newport Jazz!
Alas, Elvis Costello was a disappointment. His set had a promising start, with an instrumental, reggae version of Watching the Detective. But he seemed to be struggling with his vocals, and it was hard to listen to. In his defense, there was something wrong with the sound system, and Samara Joy was a tough act to follow. We left after just two songs.
After two long days, we were both feeling drained from the heat, and I was nursing a cold, so we skipped the last day of the festival. We felt good about our Newport Jazz experience, and we’ll always remember it. And we now feel brave enough to try other, larger music festivals. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has 13 stages! Do we dare?
