Past, Present, and Future: Day One of the 2024 Newport Jazz Festival

One criticism occasionally levied against the more recent editions of the iconic Newport Jazz Festival is that it somehow abandoned its mooring in jazz. A pseudo-purist faction asserts that the music that first put George Wein’s festival on the map was discarded years ago. But this perspective is deeply flawed. For one, it ignores the many “jazz-adjacent” performers littered throughout the event’s lineage – Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, Mahalia Jackson, Muddy Waters, and Led Zeppelin, to name a few. More offensively, however, the revisionist narrative ignores the reality of jazz music and its evolution. Miles Davis did not sound like Louis Armstrong. Nor did John Coltrane mirror Coleman Hawkins. The music evolves and expands to explore new territory. And, yet, there is a thread that ties them all. The spirits of the past always – to some degree – inhabit the present. None of this is to say contemporary artists are mere copycats. They are all individuals with their own ideas, influences, and beating hearts to guide sound as it speaks to them. Yet, hues of tradition flow through the veins of even the most ardent revolutionaries. Indeed, rebellion itself is not without its own antecedents. In this three-part review of the 2024 Newport Jazz Festival, we draw a few of the many through-lines from performances past to the warriors who push the art form forward today. In this first offering, we cover Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio, the Sun Ra Arkestra, Galactic with Irma Thomas, Bill Frisell Four, and André 3000’s New Blue Sun.

Luke Stewart Silt Trio and Thomas Chapin Trio (1995)

The weekend’s performances began at the intimate Harbor Stage with a trio of bassist Luke Stewart, saxophonist Brian Settles, and drummer Warren “Trae” Crudup III. The idea of a pianoless trio in this format is hardly new. Such is most common in a group led by a saxophonist. Sonny Rollins, for one, did significant work in the area. It is far less common to see a chordless three-person setting led from the perspective of a bassist. But as the Festival’s Artistic Director Christian McBride, himself a master of the low end, proclaimed in announcing the ensemble, “People still say it is unusual to have a bassist band leader, but the bass has been in front for a very long time.” And while there were moments of incredible interplay among the entire group, it was clear it was Stewart’s strings leading the outing.

The opening piece was built around the rich and dark tones of a gliding bow emulating a plane flying overhead. The cleared space carved by the leader opened passages for Settles and Crudup to glide ahead before turning frenetic. At other moments during the set, Stewart played with dynamics from quiet moments of solitude to aggressively rumbling propulsions. Seemingly free form rhythms that glued together the trio even as they went in different directions. Throughout, intricately crafted melodies surfaced for those careful enough to look for them. Although at the forefront of Washington D.C.’s free improvisation scene, it is the emergent compositions that truly set the performance apart.

In hearing Stewart’s performance, one could not help but draw parallels to Thomas Chapin’s performance at the same festival twenty-nine years earlier. Presented two years before his untimely passing, the performance found the saxophonist-flutist joined by bassist Mario Pavone and drummer Michael Sarin. Yes, it is one of the more archetypal sax-led versions of a chordless group. However, the approach the trio took to rhythm and dynamics uniquely mirrors those presented by Stewart. There was a wild abandon in the cadences of Chapin’s rhythm section that pushed you hard out of your seat. Dynamics constantly shifted between the tenderness of Chapin’s flute and the urgent explosiveness of double saxophones. And yet the melodies of pieces like “Night Bird Song” remain downright mesmerizing.

If both Stewart and Chapin teach us anything, it is that the song form still matters. You can loosen up patterns. You can shift roles in the band. You can experiment with different timbres and approaches. If that underlying piece is well-written, it will always shine through.

The Sun Ra Arkestra and The Sun Ra Arkestra (1969)

The first day of the 2024 Newport Jazz Festival was an absolute scorcher. The excruciating heat was so overpowering that it almost felt like you were at a launch pad, feeling the burning flames as you waited for a rocket to blast off. With the luminous interstellar big band the Sun Ra Arkestra on loan from Jupiter, perhaps we were. Even with fearless centenarian pilot Marshall Allen docked in Philadelphia, the band gave an incredible performance at the Fort Stage that presented the broad artistry of its namesake.

Voyaging through Sun Ra originals like “Holiday for Strings” and “Space is the Place,” the Arkestra presented compositions originally viewed by many as eccentric. In reality, time would catch up to them and turn them into standards, even when approached with the same audacity and boldness. But Sun Ra was never only about his own pieces. Everything from the soundtrack to the 1960s Batman TV show to Disney themes to bebop was incorporated into his oeuvre as well. And the Arkestra reflected this side of Sun Ra as well, through pieces like Thelonious Monk’s “Well You Needn’t.”

The current incarnation of the Arkestra was as full of elegance and grace, reflecting the legacy of swing as much as the experimental extremes to which the average listener may associate them. This presentation differs somewhat from the anthemic march of their 2019 Newport performance. But it stands in even starker contrast to the first time the band performed in Newport in 1969. In the year Newport turned to rock, the Arkestra proved especially harsh and discordant. Its music was filled with screeches, wails, and electronic dissonance. Placing the 2024 and 1969 performances side by side, one is left wondering what happened to this band over the last fifty-five years. Did it abandon its edginess in favor of something more readily accessible? The short answer is no. Instead, the diversity of sounds speaks to the wide breadth of Sun Ra’s music. As longtime Arkestra guitarist DM Hotep stated, “Ultimately, we all follow our own version of Sun Ra.“ It is this expansiveness that will likely allow the band to continue to endure.

Bill Frisell Four and The Jimmy Giuffre 3 (1958)

Where Marshall Allen recently received his long overdue recognition as an NEA Jazz Master, this author would like to propose another recipient of the esteemed reward: Bill Frisell. From the ethereal magic of the trio with Joe Lovano and Paul Motian to the punkish edge of John Zorn’s Naked City to the nostalgic rock of Guitar in the Space Age! (Okeh, 2014) or his visitation of Beatles tunes, Frisell has traversed the gamut of American music. What’s more, he exhibits a special power to transport listeners to the American countryside. There is something inherently organic and earthy about his sound that captures pastoral scenery.

At the Quad Stage, Frisell presented his new quartet with saxophonist-clarinetist Greg Tardy, pianist Gerald Clayton, and drummer Jonathan Blake. Performing pieces built around only fragments of ideas and generally left open-ended added spontaneity and vibrancy to their performance. The open-ended approach also allowed the four artists to shape the path followed by their music with no preset destination as if drifting down a river to see where it leads you. Pieces like the sparse and laidback “The Pioneer” washed the audience with atmospheric waves of sound as Tardy’s saxophone swerved through Frisell’s long angular lines.

In these moments, one inevitably feels the influence of Frisell’s hero turned teacher turned collaborator, Jim Hall. Like Frisell, Hall cast a wide net musically but especially excelled at capturing vivid landscapes with each note. A great example of this facet of Hall’s work is evident in his 1958 Newport performance with Jimmy Giuffre on saxophone and Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone, specifically the song “The Train and the River.” Listening to the version of this song captured on Bert Stern’s Jazz on a Summer’s Day, one can sense steady movement along the tracks through an open countryside. The audience may have been sitting in folding chairs at Freebody Park, but the music carried them elsewhere – to a beautiful place equal parts real and imagined. It is the same kind of magic one could hear directly in Frisell’s 2024 Newport performance as well.

Galactic with Irma Thomas and Ray Charles (1958)

Following Frisell on the Quad Stage was the New Orleans funk powerhouse Galactic. The set began high-octane versions of politically charged pieces Les McCann and Eddie Harris’ “Compared to What?” and the Allen Toussaint penned “Yes We Can Can”.

After several songs by themselves, the Stanton Moore-led ensemble brought out their home city’s R&B legend, Irma Thomas. The special guest vocalist’s inclusion changed the trajectory of the band. While the set still featured heavy grooving bass lines and tight horn hits, the octogenarian vocalist brought a sweetness and soulfulness to the outing. Thomas’ hits like “Heart of Steel,” “Ruler Of My Heart,” and “Time Is On My Side” underscored the power these old tunes still carry decades later. The last of these was dedicated to both Thomas’ husband and Quint Davis, the longtime producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, an event with deep ties to Newport.

One can draw parallels between Galactic and Irma Thomas’ performance and several others in Newport’s past. The funkiness of James Brown. The Crescent City originated rhythms of everyone from Louis Armstrong through Dr. John to Chief Adjuah. But there is something about the set that most deeply recalled Georgian Ray Charles’ performance in 1958. A recording far too often overshadowed by Jazz on a Summer’s Day and Miles Davis’ At Newport (Columbia, 1964) from that same year, Brother Ray’s set is a hidden gem in the volume of Newport recordings. The high-tempo “In a Little Spanish Town” and spirited “I’ve Got a Woman” expertly weaved together jazz, funk, and R&B. And, in so doing, Charles – providing not only his smooth vocals and masterful keys but also alto saxophone – exposed the shared roots of those genres. Galactic and Irma Thomas built upon those connections to provide something new while honoring their home’s Congo Square as the birthplace of them all.

André 3000’s New Blue Sun and Herbie Mann (1967)

As the day’s heat continued, it was perhaps appropriate for one of the late-in-the-day performances at the Fort Stage to be named after the center of our solar system. André 3000’s set was arguably also one of the most polarizing of the entire weekend. Best known as formerly half of the legendary hip-hop duo Outkast, the once-rapper has moved onto flute and, more recently, piano. When initially announced, André Benjamin’s quasi-ambient music seemed an unusual choice for an outdoor music festival. But its inclusion is a testament to how Newport continues to take risks, even decades after its reputation as a top music festival was long ago established.

Unfortunately, not everyone got the memo about the Festival’s significance. After having his back turned to the audience for most of his set, André finally spoke to the crowd midway through to ignorantly comment that the only Newport he was familiar with was the cigarette brand. Such juvenile commentary was mirrored in his lackluster flute performance. Built with top-notch musicians from Los Angeles’ meditative-jazz scene – guitarist Nate Mercerau, percussionist Carlos Niño, drummer Deantoni Parks, and keyboardist Surya Botofasina – the band was able to craft serene soundscapes ripe for exploration. Sadly, in this author’s opinion, the bandleader missed many opportunities to use what he was provided. He claimed his part was built around the audience’s experiences: “Whatever you brought with you today, and you’re giving to me, we’ll play back to you.” But the result was nothing but a rambling mess of repetitive electrical whirs, bleeps, and stutters. The leader’s part was not peaceful at all despite hoping to be. Nor was it a substantive act of avant-garde free expression. It seemed to be a case of simply pointless meandering. While it was refreshing to see Benjamin eschew the stereotypical celebrity approach to jazz of traipsing through the Great American Somgbook or venturing into the instrumental R&B often confusingly labeled as “smooth jazz,” his performance nevertheless missed the mark.

Again, however, the Festival should be applauded for taking a risk in presenting a performance like this one that is outside the event’s comfort zone. In this sense, it recalls another experiment the event undertook many years prior with a different flutist: Herbie Mann in 1967. Part of a series called the Five Faces of Jazz, the performance found Mann joined by vibraphonist Roy Ayers, bassist Reggie Workman, drummer Bruno Carr, oudist Chick Anemian, and special guest percussionist Babatunde Olatunji. The core quartet brought modern sensibilities of jazz while Anemian brought a Middle Eastern flair, and Olatunji the heavy rhythms of West African hand drums. The music – ranging from the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” to Sonny Rollins’ calypso tune “St. Thomas” defied cultural norms to find music that speaks to a broader humanity. Where André faltered, Mann excelled beyond anyone’s imagination. But such great highs and lows are possible only in an environment like Newport where risks are taken and artists are allowed to find their own way through sound.

Stay tuned for further explorations of day two and three of the 2024 Newport Jazz Festival.

Watch the legacy of the past, the power of the present, and blueprints for the future all come alive at this summer’s Newport Jazz Festival from August 1 to 3, 2025 at Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island. More information is available on the Festival’s website. We will be providing coverage live from the event.

Photo credit: T. Jordan Hill