{"id":8821,"date":"2024-06-21T13:29:15","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T18:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=8821"},"modified":"2024-06-29T14:42:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T19:42:46","slug":"newportjazz2023dayiii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/newportjazz2023dayiii\/","title":{"rendered":"Observations from Day Three of the 2023 Newport Jazz Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jazz music and dance have long had intertwined histories. For one, the music of people like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey brothers fueled the widespread craze of swing dancing throughout the 1930s and 40s. But, over time, the music changed. Bebop expanded chordal structures beyond their traditional realm. The avant-garde movements went even further and, in some cases, abandoned them entirely. Add to it the shifting role of the drummer from serving primarily as a rhythmic timekeeper to providing an additional instrumental voice, and it is easy to see why many think there is no longer a connection between the music and dance. On Sunday, August 6, 2023, the Newport Jazz Festival highlighted the strong bonds that still result between the two art forms.\u00a0You can check out the two preceding days here<\/a> and here.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before getting into how the final day of the 2023 Newport Jazz Festival connects to dance, it is perhaps best to first discuss how it did not. For the last few years, a Facebook commentator has  castigated the Festival for presenting too much of what he calls \u201cdance music.\u201d When pressed to define \u201cdance music\u201d or provide examples, he, perhaps unsurprisingly, could not. However, his commentary has made clear that he ascribes to a Crouchian purist view of the music. This perspective only debases the artistic brilliance of musicians who do not fit their mold. Further, it also ignores this particular Festival\u2019s long history of presenting diverse acts. But in a broader sense, the use of the term \u201cdance music\u201d as some distinguishing line between \u201cjazz\u201d and \u201cother\u201d was undermined by the music presented on that Sunday. The day of the weekend that perhaps most reflected traditional music nevertheless showed how such is indeed \u201cdanceable\u201d as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Starting at the Harbor Stage, Matthew Whitaker led a quintet that drew direct lines from soul jazz to R&B. A super funky organ-led rendition of Eddie Harris\u2019 \u201cFreedom Jazz Dance\u201d became a richly voiced version of Chick Corea\u2019s \u201cSpain.\u201d Moving over to the piano, the blind prodigy presented Dave Brubeck\u2019s \u201cBlue Rondo Ala Turk\u201d in which a solo cited the old spiritual \u201cWade in the Water\u201d but also veered into electronic synthesizer territory. The performance concluded with Marvin Gaye\u2019s rousing  \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d which led most of the audience to sing. The consistent thread throughout the set was the ensemble\u2019s hard groove that made several listeners move as they played.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Up on the Quad Stage came Charles McPherson. The eighty-four-year-old saxophonist first played the Festival in 1971 as part of Charles Mingus\u2019 band. Here, he presented a group that included Terrell Stafford on trumpet, David Wong on bass, Billy Drummond on drums, and Jeb Patton on piano. While their music mostly lacked the funkiness of Whitaker\u2019s performance, it nevertheless compelled audiences to dance. Exploring those connections between music and dance is familiar terrain to McPherson, who had released an album specifically dedicated to the topic: Jazz Dance Suites<\/em> (Chazz Mack, 2020). A song from the record, \u201cThe Wedding Song,\u201d which he had written for the San Diego Ballet, was a highlight of the set. Another was the high-velocity standard \u201cCherokee\u201d that put listeners into a frenzy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back on the Harbor Stage was pianist Bill Charlap with brothers Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. The trio outing examined the compositions of the legendary Duke Ellington. \u201cLove You Madly\u201d, \u201cCaravan\u201d (technically a Juan Tizol and Ellington co-creation), and \u201cMood Indigo\u201d were played fairly traditionally yet swung hard as they extracted elements from each piece that underscored Duke\u2019s mastery of substantive danceable music, tapping into the same fervent magic that drove crowds to a craze at Newport in 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the Fort Stage came Scary Goldings. Itself, a meeting of Scary Pockets (Jack Conte and Derek Moore) and Larry Goldings<\/a>, the band was joined by John Scofield and surprise guest Tal Wilkenfeld. The former gave nods to the Blues on \u201cCornish Hen\u201d and his time with Miles on \u201cProfessor Vicarious.\u201d The latter provided a heavy groove that thoroughly made it, perhaps, the funkiest set of the entire weekend. The performance was so funky that it made even this author\u2019s one-year-old child – who could barely walk – dance and clap throughout the songs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Immediately following Scary Goldings came \u201cA Moodswing Reunion,\u201d a meeting of Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride<\/a>, and Brian Blade. The quartet has reconvened a few times, even releasing two albums – RoundAgain<\/em>(Nonesuch, 2020) and LongGone<\/em> (Nonesuch, 2022) over the last few years. But this conference at Newport was particularly special as it marked the thirtieth anniversary of their performance at the 1993 Newport Jazz Festival; the group\u2019s first gig as a band. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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