T-Miss Music Events from Stage to Screen,And All
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Is This Jazz? Axes at the Fort: The Newport Jazz Festival returns Every year at The Newport Jazz Festival, we are treated to an immense spectrum of performance that displays not only the deep history of jazz, but also the sounds of its future. This year will be no different. To give you a head start to figuring out the lineup, here are a few selections from each day that you should go dig. There are a ton of really big names on the opening day, Friday, August 2, but none is more legendary than Herbie Hancock. To list his credits and to try to convey the importance of his music in this article would be redundant because at this point I just have to assume that anybody who digs jazz, digs Herbie. His is truly a face destined for the Mt. Rushmore of jazz pianists, so it should be a requirement to see any set he is on. Next on your list of legends is the less well known, but deeply revered, Sun Ra Arkestra, directed by Marshall Allen. They perform the repertoire of their former leader, the pianist and visionary composer Sun Ra, combining “big band swing, outerspace jazz, Afropageantry, singing, dancing and chanting.” Also on Friday will be the bass virtuoso Thundercat, who has been cutting his teeth for years as a sideman, singer and writing partner, playing with some the biggest names in music, including Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell and Michael McDonald. The last act to check out is Domi & JD Beck, a duo collaboration between keyboardist Domitlle Degalle and drummer James Dennis Beck who are both known for their next-level playing ability and deep-pocketed grooves. Check out their videos online to get a sense of the sonic realm they live in. Headlining the Fort Stage on Saturday, August 3, is the immense force that is saxophonist and composer Kamasi Washington. From his groundbreaking triple album The Epic to his most recent opus Heaven and Earth, Kamasi has risen to the heights of the jazz world and has transfixed audiences across generations with his electrifying band and soul-searching improvisation. Also performing will be the legendary Dianne Reeves who is not only one of the greatest vocalists in the game, but also a five- time Grammy Award winner. She has played all over the world and has shared the stage with some the best to ever play this music. One of the acts I’m most excited to see on Saturday is Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller’s Parlour Game. Miller is one of the preeminent living jazz drummers, and their self- described sound “explores swing, gogo, backbeats and ballads.” To round out the day, go check out the young lion, vibraphonist Joel Ross and his “Good Vibes” project. Ross is a relative newcomer to the larger jazz world, but he has shared the stage with Herbie Hancock, Louis Hayes, Christian McBride and Stefon Harris and has been performing all over the world, with a debut album on the way. Helping to close out the festival on Sunday, August 4, will be Newport favorites Tank And The Bangas. Ever since winning NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert in 2017, they have been on a whirlwind success tour around the world and have taken what was already a brilliant sound and heightened it. They are loud, funky and fun as hell. The group I am most excited to see over the entire three days is Sons Of Kemet; a sax, tuba and two drum set quartet out of London, lead by saxophonist and composer Shabaka Hutchings. They pull from a deeply rooted rhythmic language and play with an unmatchable energy that can be heard on their latest, explosive album Your Queen Is A Reptile. Since these festivals are known for their unique collaborations and one-off performances, I would also suggest checking out In Common, which is a super group composed of the mega quintet of Walter Smith III, Matt Stevens, Joel Ross, Harish Raghavan and Kendrick Scott. I have no idea what they’ll be playing, but with that line-up, it’s definitely a can’t-miss performance. These few are only the beginning. The historic Newport Jazz Fest will feature a wide range of incredible artists such as Cécile McLorin Salvant, Ron Carter, Common, The Bad Plus, and plenty of special one- time performances that you may never see again. For more information and to purchase tickets, head to newportjazz.org. Happening Around Town The John Allmark Jazz Orchestra; first Monday monthly @ The Met (Pawtucket) Groove Merchants; Mondays @ Fifth Element (Newport) Travis Colby and Lisa Marie; every Monday @ Strings Bar and Grill (Johnston) Jazz Jam; Tuesdays @ Ten Rocks (Pawtucket) Leland Baker Quartet; Wednesdays @ Acacia Club (Providence) Jazz At The Parlour; Sundays (Jam third Sunday, Ed Tomassi fourth Sunday) @ The Parlour (Providence) Modern Sound Series; last Sunday monthly @ Tea In Sahara (Providence) Is This Jazz?; (Providence) visit isthisjazz.tumblr.com for listings To add your listing, email [email protected]. Ben Shaw is a local composer, performer, and writer. Find him at benjaminshawmusic.com. Cultural Evolution: Journalist on the scene at Woodstock discusses the media then and now Ty Davis is a journalist and publisher, known for launching the Rhode Island-based alternative paper NewPaper during the 1970s, a paper that later was purchased by The Boston Phoenix and renamed The Providence Phoenix under Davis’ leadership. As the 50th anniversary of Woodstock approaches, I asked Davis about some of the key differences between today’s entertainment and culture media and the media climate during the original festival, an event Davis covered for The Providence Journal. Bill Bartholomew (Motif): In many ways (factually, anecdotally), Woodstock as an event and brand has been defined through media coverage and regurgitation of that initial coverage. How authentic is the version of Woodstock that is popular public opinion today? Ty Davis: I don’t know what the popular opinion of Woodstock is today. My guess is that most people get their concept of it from the four-hour movie that tried to capture three days of events. Given that limitation, the movie gives a fair idea of what happened so I think people use that. When I got back to RI after Woodstock, I was appalled by the early coverage, which was along the lines of “dope-smoking hippies have taken our kids and hooked them on drugs!” My article in The Providence Journal debunked that hysteria with: yes, drugs were available, but most of the kids were there for the music and communal spirit. Personally, I didn’t bring in any drugs with me and didn’t trust any items from strangers no matter how nice they seemed. I might have taken sips of alcohol from brand-name bottles – possibly – but nothing more than that. The thing that a lot of people missed at the time and thereafter was that Northeast America was a collection of “tribes” based around one’s religion, ethnicity, politics and/or neighborhood when growing up – much more so than today. Woodstock (and rock ‘n’ roll in general) gave young people a shared interest that ignored all of those restrictions. That freedom from confines was exhilarating! Woodstock was a celebration of that, and that was something that the movie didn’t actually show. BB: Did the media coverage of Woodstock launch a new brand of concert/event journalism? TD: Tough call. So far as I know, I was the first writer of a purely rock ‘n’ roll column in a major newspaper (over a month before Rolling Stone appeared) in 1967. However fanzines such as Crawdaddy! were already treating rock seriously – since the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper really – so proper coverage was already being published. However, Woodstock really blew it open as every major city newspaper and TV station had to cover the event. Remember, the Woodstock traffic closed the NY Interstate incredibly and, as announced from the stage, Woodstock was suddenly the fourth largest city in New York state for three days. Editors took notice of happenings like that! One story I’ve always thought interesting: I was in the press bus at one point when a young, female New York Times reporter burst in to ask if anybody had an idea of how many people were in attendance. We all shook our heads. She volunteered that she had been talking to a policeman at the entrance, that he had guessed 400,000, and she was going with that. I have no idea what the cop based his estimate on, but I’m sure he missed all the people in the fields behind the stage and the fields beyond the concert area. I believe 500,000 is much more likely and, quite possibly, more than that. It was impossible to tell. BB: How did your coverage of Woodstock fit into the broader narrative of the ’60s? In other words, do you feel like you’ve contributed to the history books when it comes to understanding the late 1960s U.S. counterculture (and how that spilled into the mainstream)? TD: Sure! Has concert journalism improved since your time at Woodstock?You betcha! Seriously, prior to Woodstock, media mostly treated rock concerts as kid events that didn’t deserve coverage. After Woodstock, media had to cover concerts, especially as the audience grew up and became the ones to whom media had to cater for an audience. Now, with the dwindling traditional media but expanding online media, just about every performer can get some sort of press, even in an e-zine. Publications like Motif and my old alternative weekly, The NewPaper (later The Providence Phoenix) provide(d) an important service by introducing general interest audiences to important new artists, musical and otherwise, that they might never have experienced, especially with the shrinking news hole of most major papers.