Carefusion JazzFestival 55 Review

I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 Care Fusion Jazz Festival 55 in Newport, Rhode Island and it was one of the best weekends of the summer for me. The festival was held at Fort Adams State Park which is located at the mouth of the Newport Harbor with great views of the harbor which was how I got the festival on a water taxi.

Saturday was beautiful clear skies and above normal temperatures with a slight breeze coming off the harbor made for a beautiful setting to listen to some of the best jazz artists playing today. We arrived to the sound of Esperenza Spalding whose sound was more modern but upbeat and her amazing voice complimented her band’s sound. We could barely find a spot for grooving to her music. We found a spot and waited on The Joshua Redman Double Trio to come up next. So while waiting we took a tour of the grounds which featured amazing artists on two smaller stages. There were also vendors who were selling paintings, sculptures, soaps, and of course jazz merchandise. There was also a wide range of food vendors we started off with cheeseburgers and Italian sausage which were both very good. The frozen lemonade was really good also. If you wanted cocktails you could walk down the harbor to the liquor tents and enjoy a great view of the boats with your drinks. The Joshua Redman Double Trio kicked off by running through some of his work heavy on his traditional saxophone play it was well worth the wait. He closed by doing a standard number and letting everyone in the trio get some shine and showcase their skills. As we wanted more he had to go so that the Branford Marsalis Quartet could come and get the audience going with his horn. Branford was on fire playing with passion and zest and it seemed he was in sync with the beautiful weather playing smooth and clean.

The last act of the day was the most interesting Mos Def and The Watermelon Syndicate I didn’t know how they would fit in a jazz festival. Mos Def came out to the band playing and he ran through some of his new tracks which were cool he also sang and he really isn’t a bad singer it really flowed which surprised some of the more traditional jazz fans in the house. My favorite part was he did a tribute to Michael Jackson over the Human Nature song and it was nice but what got me was he kicked into “Umi Says” and that just set the crowd off old, young. Black, white it didn’t’ matter we were all standing and singing.

We arrived a little late on Sunday due to the weather it was suppose to rain but it didn’t and I am so glad it didn’t I would’ve missed the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet who were playing when we arrived. I am a big jazz fan and to hear him live was amazing they played classics like “Taking the A Train” which sounded great live. The saxophone player was beyond amazing the energy he put out was powerful it seemed to have a hold on the crowd. Antonia Bennett followed and she has a great voice she sang traditional jazz songs and her piano player was very good. I was anxious to see Tony Bennett and he was awesome wow his voice hasn’t lost anything he did some classics and told stories which was really cool. He brought Mr. Dave Brubeck out jam with him which sent it to a whole nether level. The drummer for Tony Bennett was also a drummer for Duke Ellington and he was amazing.

If you’re not busy next August please check out George Wein’s Jazz Festival 55 in Newport, RI you will enjoy great music, panoramic views, and the best seafood they have to offer.