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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
How much pop belongs at the Newport Jazz Festival?
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up That's a whole lot of jazz history, past and present. But there's also a preponderance of pop, some of which you could charitably call jazz-adjacent, and some not so much. Personally, I'm happy to see the Roots, – artists who fall under the hip-hop, funk, and soul umbrella – on any festival bill. But how are the beat-heavy, rave-worthy soundscapes of Flying Lotus going to fit in? Advertisement The Roots will perform at the Newport Jazz Festival this Friday. Courtesy of the Newport Jazz Festival Maybe the singer-songwriter Willow will lean more toward the jazz crosscurrents of her Advertisement Newport, jazz or folk, has always been a balancing act (see: Bob Dylan, 1965). Following the jazz festival's pre-rock heyday, Newport Jazz cofounder George Wein was always devising schemes to attract an audience large enough to make it sustainable and give lesser-known artists a bigger platform. After briefly selling off the festival to another presenter in the late 2000s, he returned in 2009 and shortly thereafter established the nonprofit From then on, he dug hard into the festival's (and his own) legacy: an educational component, panel discussions during the week leading up to the weekend festival, regional student jazz bands playing the weekend's opening slots. Wein's programming deployed not only veteran stars (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea) and revered elders (Lee Konitz, Lou Donaldson) but also put an emphasis on 'emerging' artists of various ages (Amir ElSaffar, Mary Halvorson, the Bad Plus). He also showed a healthy respect for the avant-garde; the esteemed avant-elder trio of Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, and Henry Threadgill played the main stage in 2015. In interviews, he made it clear that he was concerned not only with his legacy, but sustaining jazz as an evolving art form. Wein died, at 95, in 2021. Since then, the Newport Festivals Foundation (with Jay Sweet as executive director and the esteemed Advertisement This year, it's not so much that Monáe, or even Sofi Tukker, shouldn't be on the bill. But there's a whole swath of progressive jazz artists that are underrepresented, some of whom have played Newport and others not: heralded younger players like alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, trumpeter Adam O'Farrill, star vibraphonist Joel Ross, and the slightly older trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, 43, who has in recent years become a major figure in the music. Another player, vibraphonist and composer Patricia Brennan, has been bubbling up for a while and this year swept the major critics polls for her album 'Breaking Stretch.' It would also be nice to have Halvorson back, as well as Grammy-winning pianist/composer Kris Davis. This year, there's a promising contingent from the bubbling up London scene — the celebrated saxophonist Nubya Garcia, singer Jacob Collier, the Yussef Dayes Experience, and Kokoroko. There's a clubby neo-soul, down-tempo electronica drift in some of these and other acts (especially Dayes and the ambient-inclined American, Rich Ruth) that made me wonder if Newport Jazz (Ron Carter et al., notwithstanding ) was going to become an electronica-jam-band dance party. We shall see. In the meantime, here's a handful of other acts from this year's bill that might be flying below your radar. FRIDAY DARIUS JONES TRIO Possibly the biggest debut of the festival. Alto saxophonist Jones, 47, brings a focused, impassioned vision to old-school avant-garde. RACHAEL & VILRAY The duo project of Lake Street Dive singer Rachael Price and guitarist/songwriter/singer Vilray shows off Price's glorious vocal chops in a swing-jazz context, supported by Vilray's astute songwriting. Here they front a nine-piece band. Advertisement Tyreek McDole performs at the Newport Jazz Festival on Friday. EBAR TYREEK McDOLE The 25-year-old winner of the 2023 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition has a sound and sensibility mature beyond his years and a repertoire that extends from American Songbook standards to Billy Strayhorn, Joe Williams, Leon Thomas, and beyond. AARON PARKS LITTLE BIG The quartet fronted by the former Terence Blanchard and Kurt Rosenwinkel keyboardist has become something of a phenomenon, traversing jazz-rock and unclassifiable proggy grooves with uncommon flexibility and warmth. SATURDAY TYSHAWN SOREY TRIO Drummer, composer, and all-around genius-level conceptualist Sorey is joined by his trio-mates from his breathtaking 2024 release, 'The Susceptible Now,' pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Harish Raghavan. MARCUS GILMORE PRESENTS: A CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE TO ROY HAYNES In the 'only at Newport' category, the 38-year-old heir apparent to his grandfather's greatness reviews the Haynes repertoire with a band that includes saxophonist Kenny Garrett, pianist Danilo Pérez, and bassist John Patitucci. Marcus Gilmore will present a centennial tribute to the late Roy Haynes at the 2025 Newport Jazz Festival. Ogata SUNDAY JORJA SMITH Part of this year's Newport British Invasion, this 28-year-old English singer-songwriter matches compelling lyrics and emotionally weighted vocals with jazz-wise rhythms and harmonies, and an acoustic take on club beats and funk. Jorja Smith, who appeared at Boston's Agganis Arena in 2019, will perform on the final day of the Newport Jazz Festival. Ben Stas for The Boston Globe EMMET COHEN TRIO Pianist Cohen, 35, became a bona fide jazz influencer when his COVID-born NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL Fort Adams State Park, Newport, R.I. Aug. 1-3. Sold out. Waitlist information: Jon Garelick can be reached at garelickjon@ Advertisement
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Becoming Led Zep film makers describe "intense" first meeting with Jimmy Page
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The new (and long awaited) documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin finally lands this week and the film makers have released a wee clip onto Instagram in which they describe what it was like meeting Jimmy Page for the first time. 'That very first meeting we had was quite intense,' Alison McGourty says. Her creative partner Bernard McMahon suggests: 'He just wanted to know how thoroughly we knew the subject.' 'We got a phone call from him out of the blue, (saying) it's up to you to get the other guys on board,' remembers McGourty, before McMahon adds: 'That's really the Zeppelin way.' Becoming Led Zeppelin is the first officially sanctioned documentary about the group, which seems mad considering they broke up 45 years ago, but there you go. It tells the story of Zep's early years, but interestingly cuts the tale in 1970, just before they emerged as arguably the biggest, baddest rock band on Planet Earth. It's also significant in that there are no other talking heads, except the three surviving members of the group, plus archive footage of the late John Bonham. The filmmakers apparently tried – as much as was possible – to allot equal time to each member, in the same way that Page tried to bring balance to Zep's music, with every instrument (and Robert Plant's voice) as important as each other. In addition to this, McMahon and McGourty have used footage from the band's many iconic performances from the late 60s, from gigs at Fillmore West, and festivals such as Newport Jazz, Atlanta Pop and the Bath Blues festival in 1969. They've even unearthed footage from a French TV show in 1969 in which the band launch into Communication Breakdown only for the audience to cover their ears and recoil in horror. Becoming Led Zeppelin is on release at IMAX screens from this Wednesday and at cinemas nationwide from Friday. Tickets are available here.
