The 60th Annual Newport Jazz Festival | Aug. 1st – 3rd, 2014

Imagine celebrating your 59th anniversary with over 17, 000 people of
all generations and walks of life. And now imagine that it’s during a
summer weekend in one of the most scenic locations on earth. And lastly,
picture the soundtrack to that weekend coming from some of the greatest
jazz musicians from around the globe. If you can picture that, you can
picture the 59th Newport Jazz Festival® Presented by Natixis Global
Asset Management.

If there was one theme that ran through this
year’s Newport Jazz Festival, it was the blending of generations. It
started right at the kick-off concert at the International Tennis Hall
of Fame at the Newport Casino. Opening the Friday night event was the
Bill Charlap Trio, joined by vocalist Freddy Cole, brother of late Nat
King Cole. After a set of smoky-voiced standards, his niece, Natalie
Cole, took the stage for a headlining performance, showcasing one
family’s own musical legacy.

For the weekend, the festival moved
to the scenic and historic Fort Adams State Park. There, from three
different stages, multiple generations of musicians engaged in a two-day
musical conversation about the legacy of jazz, the current state of it,
and even a glimpse into its future. On Saturday, in honor of his 80th
birthday, Wayne Shorter took the Fort Stage. But because this is
Newport, the celebration wouldn’t be complete without a guest appearance
by former Miles Davis Quintet band mate, Herbie Hancock. (Later, Herbie
would drop in to play with Terence Blanchard on the Quad Stage).
Following Shorter’s birthday set, the stage was handed over to the
28-year old Esperanza Spalding, fronting her Radio Music Society.

If there was one theme that ran through this year’s Newport Jazz Festival, it was the blending of generations.

All
weekend long, all across the grounds, these generational batons were
being handed back and forth. Sometimes they came from the keyboard of
Chick Corea or the salsa rhythms of Eddie Palmieri or the cool, soothing
pipes of vocalists Dee Alexander and Gregory Porter. Other times they
came through the energy of newer faces on the scene; acts like the Donny
McCaslin Group, the Mary Halvorson Quintet, and Ali Amr. Nobody will
forget Jon Batiste marching through the aisles of the Harbor Stage, or
the Robert Glasper Experiment pulsing the crowd with its R&B fusion,
or pianist Hiromi bringing the crowd to its feet as she stood on hers
to crash down a final crescendo. Nor will they forget standard bearers
and rising stars mixing on the same stage, such as veteran Jim Hall
pairing with up-and-comer Julian Lage, or drumming legend Roy Haynes
leading his Fountain of Youth Band.

Next August 1 – 3, the
Newport Jazz Festival will celebrate its 60th anniversary. We are
already planning for the party. The 59th was a great indication of how
magical the festival can be; just imagine what is still yet to come.