On Day Two of the festival, we were lucky enough to be blessed yet again with beautiful weather. It seems to be a rare thing in Newport, where the weather is constantly changing. Day Two was no different from opening day, with many visitors coming early to secure a good place to enjoy the festival and music. As it became closer to starting time, heavy traffic was building near the park entrance. It's not a bad idea to use the water taxi from downtown Newport to get to the venue. It's a great experience passing yachts and luxurious cruisers with the sea breeze hitting your face.
Article, Photos by Takehiko Tokiwa
Roberta Gambarini (vo), James Moody (ts, vo)
First up to bat on the JVC Stage was the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band. The band, started by the late Dizzy Gillespie (tp), one of the godfathers of bebop, consists of three generations of musicians. Original members Jimmy Heath (ts), James Moody (ts, vo) and Slide Hampton (tb), who is in charge of arrangements and conducting, are joined by veterans Roy Hargrove (tp) and Steve Davis (tb), and young singer Roberta Gambarini (vo). Like Gillespie, the entire band can improvise and entertain at the highest level. Paquito D’Rivera (as, cl), the Cuban musician that Gillespie loved to play with, took the stage as a special guest, and created an electric atmosphere. The scat between Gambarini and Moody woke everybody up and kicked off the day to an excellent start.
Paquito D’Rivera (as, sl)
After the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Paquito D’Rivera (as, cl) remained on stage and waited for his young band members to join him. His Panamericana Ensemble has been the talk of the town in the New York local club scene. The band members include cello and trombone multi-instrumentalist Dana Leong, bandoneon (accordion) player Hector del Curto and Columbian traditional harp player Edmar Castaneda, who is known for his masterful improvisations. With their original North and South American mix of different music, from American jazz to Brazilian samba and Argentinean tango, their music complimented Paquito’s stage antics perfectly, creating the first rush of excitement of the day.
Paquito D’Rivera (as, sl), Panamericana Ensemble
Of course, the Pavilion Stage and Waterside Stage both seemed interesting as well. Not to miss anything, I headed away from the main stage, passing through the vendor kiosk area towards the other stages. As I walked past, Paquito was busy signing autographs for fans at the Borders CD shop booth. The JVC booth was also gathering attention with their demonstration of the latest in state-of-the-art AV equipment. From photo exhibits to jazz-themed art, the festival can be enjoyed in more ways than one.
Romero Lubambo (g), Luciana Souza (vo)
At the massive Pavilion Stage, the drumless trio of Ron Carter (b), Russell Malone (g) and Mulgrew Miller (p) was involved in some immaculate interplay. Their approach, much like the chamber music style of the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ), invited the audience to listen to the music in a different way. Following this, Brazilian singer Luciana Souza hit the stage with a new unit consisting of fellow Brazilian Romero Lubambo (g), with whom she has collaborated with on several duo albums, Venezuelan Ed Simon (p), and a number of the New York jazz scene big names including Chris Potter (ts), Antonio Sanchez (ds) and Scott Lee (b). With a mixture of Brazilian standards and bossa nova covers of American pop music from her late-August album “New Bossa Nova,” they played hits by Joni Mitchell (vo, g), James Taylor (vo, g) and Steely Dan. The entire venue seemed to be enveloped in a wonderful Brazilian breeze. At the Waterside Stage, another Brazilian, pianist Eliane Elias (p) was playing as part of a trio with husband Mark Johnson (b) and veteran drummer Billy Hart (ds). With her alluring, sensuous vocals and their strong improvising skills, the trio played a repertoire of music by one of her favorites, Bill Evans (p). The Pavilion Stage’s last act was John Faddis (tp). With an entertaining stage demeanor reminiscent of Dizzy Gillespie, his performance was a hit, all the while making the audience laugh with his playful joking.
B.B. King (g, vo)
The latter part of the JVC Stage lineup became a kind of deep soul food gospel and blues match-up, just like the 1958 movie "Jazz on a Summer’s Day," when legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson met R&B/Rock ‘n’ Roll godfather Chuck Berry (vo, g) on stage. It’s a Newport Jazz Festival tradition. This year, gospel singing legend Al Green sang, and the final performance of the evening was by the one and only B.B. King (g.vo). As his band members warmed up and the audience cheered, the great B.B. sat down center-stage. The audience went wild to his every move, responding to the performance at every turn. Even though many people in the audience had seen this band before, consisting of his regular members playing their standard numbers, it was more than enough to keep the entire audience on their feet. Every single person was enjoying every moment of this electrifying act. It is truly this bond, between the performers and the audience, that the festival has managed to remain a tradition since its Newport Jazz Festival days, and continue as the JVC Jazz Festival Newport. The end of three summer days then drew to close, on the high hopes that we'll all be back next year.
Related Links
The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band http://dizzygillespie.org/
Paquito D'Rivera http://www.paquitodrivera.com/
Ron Carter http://www.roncarter.net/
Luciana Souza http://www.lucianasouza.com/
B.B.King http://www.bbking.com/
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