Observations from Day Two of the 2021 Newport Jazz Festival

2020 was a pivotal year in the history of civil rights. While a prominent case, George Floyd’s murder was no more the beginning of the struggle than his killer’s conviction was its end. Racial justice has served as a central impetus throughout much of the lineage of Black American Music, from Fats Waller’s “Black and Blue” to Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” The second day of the 2021 Newport Jazz Festival, July 31, deftly built upon this long history.

The day started with Danielle Ponder at the Quad Stage. The vocalist is not well-known outside her home city of Rochester, New York. She has not yet released a full-length album. Nor has she performed at a venue approximating Newport’s prestige. Her limited background is not due to a lack of talent; but rather a change in approach. The daughter of a pastor and a social worker, Ponder served as a public defender where she assisted indigent individuals, often of color, accused of criminal offenses. The role sounded deeply personal as her brother was incarcerated for twenty years following a robbery conviction. While her attorney job was a ground-level opportunity to create change, she saw more power in artistic expression. While her attorney job was a ground-level opportunity to create change, she saw more power in artistic expression. 

During her set, Ponder’s vocals were both powerful and soulful, drawing upon artists like Nina Simone.* While some of her songs were about love and heartbreak, her central mission remained obvious throughout her set. “Poor Man’s Pain,” a composition specifically dedicated to those in jail, bemoaned that “freedom comes too slow.” 

Inspired by Simone, Ponder later deviated from her predetermined setlist to sing Radiohead’s “Creep.” A well-known hit by a White English rock band would seem at first blush to be a deviation from her central focus. However, her version set over Avis Reese’s and Tony Gallicchio’s barren and sparse keyboards well emphasized ostracization from society and the mental weight it can hold on the socially shunned. Lyrics like “sometimes I feel like I don’t belong here”, “I wish I was special”, and “can this life get easier?” seemed as if specially crafted for her psychological and sociological analysis.  The piece was so personally moving to the vocalist that by the end, she found herself kneeling on the stage floor with her arms wrapped around herself for comfort. Ponder’s summation, “Darker than Blue,” engaged the audience to rise higher and “fight on for truth.” 

Those opting to instead visit the Lawn Stage enjoyed a performance by saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, whose debut album, Omega (Blue Note, 2020), included pieces on Ferguson and Mary Turner and a tribute to James Weldon Johnson. Listeners remaining at the Quad were treated to the music of Terri Lyn Carrington. In her first Newport engagement as a leader, the drummer performed with her powerful band, Social Science –  keyboardist Aaron Parks, vocalist Debo Ray, bassist-saxophonist Morgan Guerin, and guitarist Matthew Stevens. Kokayi filled in for DJ-rapper Kassa Overall. The band derived its choice of repertoire entirely from the genre-fluid manifesto, Waiting Game (Motema, 2019). 

The opening “Trapped In a Dream” fit well with Ponder’s comments on the penal system by placing lyrics like “you can lock up and throw away the key, but I know I am free” over contemplative keys and guitar work by Parks and Stevens. Sonic ideas were borrowed from rap, R&B, 1960s and 70s spiritual jazz, and heavy metal. “Bells,” a commentary on police violence against people of color, visited 90s R&B to provide space for Kokoyai to – in a manner reminiscent of Gil Scott-Heron – reference both “Strange Fruit” and “Say Her Name.” The constantly shifting grooves of each song testified to the leader’s strength as a drummer, as well as Ray’s, sometimes electronically modified, range.

In addressing such serious issues, Social Science was not always upbeat or uplifting. It didn’t need to be. The following performance by Kenny Garrett was a complete reversal in tone. Ebullient and celebratory, the saxophonist led the audience to dance and groove in a way the preceding group did not. But it is a mistake to think Garrett’s music was any less significant in its messaging or substance. In choosing a collection of songs from his forthcoming Sounds from the Ancestors (Mack Avenue, 2021), the bandleader drew a direct connection between the music of West Africa and modern American music; he accented how lessons of the past should serve as a guide for the modern era.

“It’s Time To Come Home” served as a clarion call for generations past to give wisdom for today’s challenges. The heavily accented rhythms of percussionist Rudy Bird, drummer Ronald Bruner, and pianist Vernell Brown provided a base for Garrett’s alto cries of joy and hopefulness. Corcoran Holt’s haunting solo on bowed bass sounded as though voices from the past finally responded to such attempts at communication. The ensuing compositions thoroughly reference developments across the history of Black American Music. A cite to Charlie Parker, another to John Coltrane, up to Garrett’s own work with Miles Davis. The last of these was expressed both overtly – a brief visit to the melody to “Jean Pierre” and implicitly – at times, the saxophonist turned his back to the audience while performing.

With the lineage outlined, all but Bird left the stage for a brief while. The band returned for Garrett’s anthem, “Happy People.” The upbeat hypnotic piece left a gleeful audience singing, dancing, and clapping along. But the selection also held a deeper meaning, suggesting that Garrett and his compatriots continue on the path from West Africa through the jazz greats. Near the end, the saxophonist beatboxed over the mic, stretching the sonic tree out to another branch, sampling and hip hop. 

The suggestion of DJs and rapping also laid a subtle predicate to the next set, the jazz-hip hop-r&b hybridization of Dinner Party. In one of the highlights of the weekend, Robert Glasper’s supergroup with Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington performed before audiences for the first time. Although their self-titled album received significant buzz the previous summer, the pandemic obliterated any ability to share it in a live setting. Joining the ensemble was Justin Tyson on drums, Burniss Travis on bass, and Jahi Sundance on turntables. Phoelix was on hand to revisit the album’s vocals. 

In usual Glasperian fashion, the set was lighthearted and humorous. In presenting the first tune, he joked that it was in honor of a shared hero of everyone in the group: PeeWee Herman. Screechy synths and shimmering turntables set the stage for a slow motionless barren land over which Martin’s wordless vocoder slowly morphed into the melody for Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly.” The synths then produced a steady drum-machine-like beat to allow Washington to solo. As with most of his music, the saxophonist drew clear inspiration from artists like Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, but it was refreshing to hear him in a new context, removed from the grandiose strings and choirs for which his own albums are known. 

The overlap between Garrett’s nod to hip hop and Dinner Party’s opening acknowledgment of the work of an elder was, intentionally or otherwise, an inspired way to connect the two performances. With “Freeze Tag,” the group discussed the specific issue of police brutality towards people of color. The live rendition was stretched and more expansive than its recorded counterpart, providing space for more solos interspersed with Phoelix’s lyrics – “I’m sick and tired of running, I’ve been searching where the love went…. soul looking back and wonders; how we ‘posed to get from under?”

After “Freeze Tag,” Martin picked up his alto sax for Kendrick Lamar’s “For Free?”, a composition addressing the meaning of freedom within the context of racism. Of course, the song is also from an album, To Pimp a Butterfly (Aftermath/Interscope 2015), to which the three bandleaders directly contributed. The group concluded with “Restless Warrior,” featuring surprise guest artist Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. Although condensed from R+R= Now Live’s twenty-five-minute opus, the song was no less powerful. Jahi Sundance’s loops of “Who We Are” provided a map through a synthesized history of Black American music. Martin’s solo drew equally from jazz and 70s R&B. Washington’s from 1960’s avant-garde experimentalism. Scott aTunde Adjuah’s from the blues with guttural croony lows building to atmospheric highs. He also invoked the proud brass tradition of his native New Orleans. Glasper explored 1970s jazz-funk fusion while bass and drum grooves hinted at Detroit techno. 

Over at the Lawn Stage, a special introduction was made for soul legend Mavis Staples. Citing his age, George Wein, founder of the Newport Festivals, was unable to attend the 2021 Jazz Festival. It was only the third time since its founding in 1954 that he had not been in attendance. As the other two years were due to his recuperation from surgery (2004) and the terminal illness of his wife (2005), his absence – that he would not be seen at the side of the stage, greeting artists, or zooming around in his Wein Machine golf cart- was undoubtedly a serious matter. Thanks to technology, a live audio feed was placed over the loudspeakers allowing Wein to introduce Mavis, with whom he first worked in 1960.

Mavis follows the rich tradition set forth by her hero, Mahalia Jackson, in reaching new audiences at the Newport Jazz Festival. Jackson once chose Newport for her first performance to a secular crowd in hopes her performance would expose new – mostly white – listeners to her gospel message. Mavis, with her family’s band the Staple Singers, has spent her career at the front lines of where gospel meets soul to call for peace and love. The Singers were also a central force in the 1960s Civil Rights movement and a personal favorite of Dr. Martin Luther King. Put bluntly: Mavis Staples is a national treasure. 

During her performance, Mavis primarily revisited songs across her illustrious career. In a more paired-down version of “Respect Yourself”, she called for people to respect themselves by respecting others. “Take the sheet off your face boy, it is a new day.” Her voice still sounding as empowered as always, even as new groans and cries reveal specific pains felt during her eight-decade life. The old spiritual “Wade in the Water” was given a funky and upbeat interpretation, emphasizing the continued trajectory of history. “Are You Sure?” again called for compassion and love of your neighbor.

Mavis should have been the day’s final act. That is not to slight the actual closer- Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue – whose high-energy musical development of New Orleans brass bands is worthy of discussion and exploration.

But placing Mavis just an hour later and ending the day with the living legend’s vocals would have been a poignant and powerful way to conclude. Her final song was her theme, “I’ll Take You There.” First recorded fifty years prior, Mavis again emphasized the history of Black Music while calling for a better place, one where-  

Ain’t nobody cryin’

Ain’t nobody worried 

Ain’t no smilin’ faces lyin’ to the races

Maybe that place is not of this earth. But trying to experience it here is certainly a goal to which we should all aspire.

Observations on Day One of the 2021 Newport Jazz Festival can be found here.

Except as otherwise noted, all photos are by T. Jordan Hill of PostGenre Media.

*Ledisi also performed a set dedicated to Simone later in the day.