Saturday at the Newport Jazz Festival was memorable for many reasons. It all started with the weather, as we were treated to one of the top ten days of the year. It may also be one of the top ten days in the history of the festival as the temperature hovered around the 80’s amidst low humidity.
There was a wee bit of disappointment early on as Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society did not appear as billed with the legendary jazz arranger and trombone player Bob Brookmeyer , who was too ill to attend. Still, The Secret Society delivered a muscular late morning set. The 15 or so piece outfit crossed over into many genres and sub genres of music which made for some dazzling moments of sound. Although Argue performs his music using a big band format, he is constantly stretching the limits of what you would expect a big band to sound like. Ingrid Jensen on trumpet stood out among a stage full of stand outs.
The Maria Schneider Orchestra were a must hear act over on the main stage, and while the crowd was one of the largest ones in recent festival memory the sound was also above average. It helped us to be able to enjoy Schneider’s note perfect set while waiting in line to get a Gyro.
George Wein’s Newport All-Stars are a must see at the festival and this year, the third stage was moved inside the fort, instead of out by the harbor. This practically eliminated any sound from the other two stages from interfering as it sometimes did in previous years. The All Stars ripped through some fail safe festival pleasers like “Take The A Train”, and later on Anat Cohen and Howard Alden combined for a terrific clarinet/guitar duet on “Shreveport Stomp”.
We stayed at the Quad stage to grab good shady seats for “Fly”. A power trio featuring Jeff Ballard, Larry Grenadier and Mark Turner. They displayed some amazing synergy towards one another, but the material itself proved to be a demanding listen. Although not necessarily the right move for a festival crowd, the interplay between them was still a tremendous sight to witness.
Chick Corea’s Freedom Band was also on the main stage, and we enjoyed that also from a fairly far distance due to the huge turnout Saturday. Besides, we wanted to make sure that we could make it back to the Harbor Stage to get front row seats for Anat Cohen.
Cohen is being almost universally praised over the last few years as one of the best among Israel’s recent crop of jazz musicians. She plays clarinet with a passion and intensity unlike any other in recent memory. Watching her set Saturday afternoon I had to wonder if I was witnessing one of those Newport moments that will be remembered many years from now. It was really and truly that overwhelmingly good.
The quartet was rounded out with Jason Lindner on Piano, Joe Martin on stand up bass and Daniel Freedman on drums. These three talented gentlemen proved to be a force on their own, providing the foundation for sure but going far and above that as each one was also a thrilling player in their own right.