{"id":1414,"date":"2020-07-31T01:14:36","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T06:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=1414"},"modified":"2021-06-22T11:52:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T16:52:55","slug":"newport-jazz-part-vi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/newport-jazz-part-vi\/","title":{"rendered":"A History of the Newport Jazz Festival \u2013 Chapter VI: Electric Aquidneck Experiment, 1969"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the time of the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, there were two primary ways to enter the city on Aquidneck Island. From the North, travelers would cross the Mount Hope Bridge. But most traffic came from the West, where one would invariably need to take a ferry or other watercraft ashore. While there was a charm to a boat\u2019s inclusion in the voyage, the process was inefficient and rendered Newport more remote and inaccessible. On June 28th, 1969, this was remedied by the completion of the four-lane Newport Bridge to cross the bay.* This new path opened the island up to the surrounding world more than ever before. During the same summer, the Jazz Festival did so artistically as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In some ways, the 1969 Festival was not too far removed musically from its prior incarnations. Thursday, July 3rd, programmed as \u201cFor the Jazz Aficionado,\u201d showcased a handful of artists who performed at previous Festivals. Anita O\u2019Day returned for the first time since her 1958 performance as captured on \u201cJazz on A Summer\u2019s Day.\u201d  After working with Miles Davis, Bill Evans had established himself as a top pianist and now dueting with flutist Jeremy Steig. George Benson and Kenny Burrell, part of the 1966 trumpet and guitar workshop, were leading their own Quartets. So was Freddie Hubbard, who last appeared in 1964 as a new artist to watch. Even the night\u2019s artists who were new to Newport fit comfortably along trajectories of who came before. Holt-Young Unlimited followed a path by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Jimmy Smith, and others. The avant-garde scene was also well represented; Cecil Taylor protege Sunny Murray shared his sextet with Dave Burrell, and Sun Ra pushed things to outer space with his Arkestra. <\/p>\n\n\n

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