At Fort Adams this past weekend, the Newport Folk Festival was nothing short of spectacular. There were amazing performances from a variety of bands and musicians with numerous special guests making their appearance. This upcoming weekend at the same location, the fun continues with the Newport Jazz Festival. In similar fashion to its folky compatriot, there’s going to be an array of performers exhibiting their craft on different stages throughout the festival grounds from August 2-4. Also in similar fashion, this year’s lineup for Newport Jazz is absolutely stacked, but here are five acts taking part who absolutely can’t be overlooked.
I had the pleasure of seeing Morton and his band perform at Newport Jazz a couple years ago, I became an instant fan. The New Orleans native and Maroon 5 member has some legit Stevie Wonder vibes with his soulful brand of R&B. His latest album “Cape Town to Cairo” is inspired by his experience of taking a month-long trip all over Africa, so expect a bunch of songs off that release to be on the setlist.
When it was announced that André 3000 from the Atlanta hip hop duo Outkast was going to be on the bill, it was met with a feverous reaction. An artist who is never afraid to push the creative envelope, André 3000 is going to be performing his debut solo album “New Blue Sun” that came out in November of last year. The record has 3000 playing with a variety of flutes, so it’s going to be interesting to see how he conveys this unique approach in a live setting.
I got to see Elvis Costello perform at Newport Folk years ago, but I’ve never seen him play Newport Jazz, so I’m pretty intrigued by what he has in store for the festival’s second day. He could have his wife Diana Krall, who performed as part of last year’s edition, jump on for a song or two. He could also do a tribute to the New Orleans music icon Allen Toussaint, who he collaborated with for the 2006 album “The River In Reverse,” but whatever happens it’s sure to be excellent.
Out of all the performers at Newport Jazz this year, I’m pretty sure Thievery Corporation are the ones that I’m the most excited to see. Revolving around the duo of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, this act has a groovy way of merging styles such as dub, electronica, funk, reggae and hip hop together to create a wicked cool sound. They have a reputation for putting on a killer live show, so get ready to have a memorable experience checking them out.
I’ll be honest, I’m not that familiar with Ndegeocello’s music, but I did get to see her open for Robert Glasper, who is also performing at Newport Jazz this year, at the Shubert Theatre within the Boch Center in Boston last summer and she was excellent. She’s going to be celebrating the release of her upcoming album “No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin”, which pays tribute to African-American thinkers and writers like James Baldwin and Audrey Lorde. I’m looking forward to seeing this full-length exhibited live on stage and others who attend should feel the same way.
Along with the Fort Stage and Quad Stage, there’s also going to be artists performing on the Harbor Stage and Foundation Stage. These include Sun Ra Arkestra, Bill Frisell, Galactic with Irma Thomas, Kamasi Washington, Samara Joy, Ghost-Note, Shabaka Hutchings, Laufey and The Messthetics with James Brandon Lewis among many others. If you’re headed to the Newport Jazz Festival this weekend, you’re going to be in the thick of one of the best festivals of the summer.
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