The forecast didn't sound too bad. As I drove down from Massachusetts, the traffic moved well and my ride through Newport got me to an upper level parking area by 11:00. I scouted for a spot to view the Fort Stage, ending up about 10 feet back of the sound tent and on the right side. As I settled in, trumpeter Roy Hargrove began his set. I mostly know his music by reputation; he's one of the premier trumpet players in jazz. Hargrove's music is in the tradition of Miles Davis and I imagined his group would have fit in nicely at the festival if they played during the Fifties or Sixties. Hargrove's style is on the cool side, but he plays well with or without a mute. Midway through the set, he surprised me by putting the horn aside and singing a tenor vocal on a song called "From the Top of My Head." Here's a picture of the group:
Next up was one of my favorite musicians, Pat Metheny. He began his set with a solo rendition of a piece on harp guitar. He'd strum a chord on the harp fingerboard, which would become the sonic background and then played melodies and solos over that. It was a mellow way to begin the set. Here's the view of Pat on harp guitar:
Next, he was joined by the members of his quartet, Antonio Sanchez on drums, Linda May Han Oh on bass and Gwilym Simcock on piano. Rather to my surprise, the group dipped back into some of Pat's earliest music. The third song was a rendition of "Bright Size Life," the title track from his first album. It's one of my favorites, both to hear and play, so it was a treat to hear Pat laying out the melody and then soloing over the form. This group communicates very well and there was plenty of room for Pat to play quietly, then have space for the group raise the volume and intensity.
They followed with more music from Bright Size Life and I think I also recognized music from his second album, Watercolors. Things changed with Pat launched into one of my favorite songs of his, "James." The music was delightful, but suddenly the band was competing with sheets of rain that made watching from the lawn seats a challenging ordeal. No matter how I adjusted my umbrella, I was getting soaked. From there, the weather only got worse. The band played a few more songs, and during of one the most furious bouts of rain, Pat serenaded us on solo acoustic guitar, moving from early songs like Phase Dance to other pieces in his oeuvre. Finally, the band came back and Pat switched over to his synth guitar in a powerful ensemble piece that ended the set. The musicians were superb. Simcock more than held his own on piano and added a lot of color in his comping and in his solos. Sanchez has played with Metheny for years and drove the band forward or added the small parts of percussion as needed. Linda May Han Oh also shined during her solos, predominately on upright bass and meshed well with the group's fabric by providing the bottom end for the rhythm section.
When the group's set ended, it was time to examine the mess. The lawn at Newport had become a sea of puddles and my cloth seat was soaked. I decided to move on and check out the music at the Harbor Stage. I first heard Anat Cohen at Newport several years ago and she's become one of my favorite musicians to see live. She played in a duet with Brazilian guitarist Marcello Goncalves. Cohen plays clarinet with in a lyrical and articulate style. Goncalves had a delicate touch on acoustic seven string guitar and the two musicians played music that weaved bossa or samba rhythms with soaring melodies; sometimes they played alone and then the two of them would play together again. From my perch on the side, I heard the music quite well and was also able to see the musicians.
I returned to the Fort Stage to catch the beginning of the music of Charles Lloyd. He's a jazz legend on tenor sax and was introduced by well-known jazz announcer Eric Jackson, who told stories of listening to his music during the Sixties. I heard a couple of songs which were in the style of John Coltrane, then decided to see if I could get a drier spot over by the Quad Stage. Alas, the seats were already filling up under the tent in advance of an upcoming set from Jon Bastiste, Having endured a very tough day, I decided to check out the beer tent. I got my over 21 wristband and ordered a pilsner from the sponsoring New Belgium beer company. There was a spot to escape the rain after the purchase and I engaged in conversations with a couple of the other attendees. Newport Jazz always attracts a highly diverse crowd from many locations on the east coast and I enjoy hearing why people decided to come and who they count among their favorite musicians.
After a while, Jon Bastiste began to play on solo piano. He's from New Orleans and brought us music that draws from that heritage. He played some energizing boogie-woogie piano and then played a meditative rendition, on piano and vocal, of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."
One of the attractions for me on this day was to hear Laurie Anderson play live. I bought some of her music several years ago, but was highly curious about what she would bring to the main Fort Stage of Newport. I returned to my spot, dried off as well as I could and sat down for her set. The group was a trio, all on stringed instruments. Laurie plays electric violin and today she was accompanied by Newport Jazz's musical organizer, Christian McBride on upright bass and cellist Rubin Kodheli. Laurie is best known as a performance artist based in New York City and that connection was evident in her music on this occasion. The music itself was very intense, conveying a lot of emotion, but the sounds were really "out there," so not for everybody. From time to time, she added some trenchant commentary in the form of stories and even introduced us to a play called "The Birds" from Aristophanes, which seemed quite suitable, since we were being invaded by seagulls who were dive bombing the lawn area looking for food. All in all, I liked the set. Here's a view of the trio on stage and a sample of the rain gear in use by the audience:
The final musician of the day on the Fort Stage was vocalist Andra Day. I was not familiar with her music, but wanted to give it a listen. Andra draws from the R&B and gospel traditions, along with a healthy dose of social justice themes. Her music ranged from upbeat stompers to tales of woe and for one song, a soulful ballad called "Rear Views," she sang with an impressive vocal range at both low and high volumes. The group had very good ensemble vocals; Andra was backed by two woman vocalists and both the drummer and keyboard player sometimes added lower pitches to the blend. At the end of a long day, Andra's group played one more song that rocked Newport. The lead lyrics said: "I want it all and I want it now," and Andra belted the words out with intensity and feeling. Her guitarist Dave Wood also played well throughout and contributed an energetic hard rock solo to help close out the song as Andra left the stage. Her's a view of the band:
That finished my day at Newport. I gathered my stuff, all still damp from the earlier storms, and sloshed back up the hill to my car along with hundreds of others.