Written by Tim Wilkins from WBGO-FM
The experience of going to the Newport Jazz Festival actually starts before you get there. The community of Newport sits at the tip of Rhode Island’s Aquidneck Island — the exact festival location even more so — which means you’re going to need to cross a big bridge or hop a boat. You’ll probably pass through the old resort community of Newport, and by its massive oceanside mansions. It’ll be about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with a stabilizing ocean breeze. And then there’s the music.
If you don’t manage to traverse Narragansett Bay, this year NPR Music and its partners WBGO and WGBH will offer a live video webcast of the Newport Jazz Festival Aug. 4-5, then an archived recording. As a way of previewing this year’s lineup, we’ve put together a collection of artists appearing at Newport 2012, from living legends to young phenoms. Wherever possible, we found recordings of the actual bands on the festival lineup, with a few classics some artists might just pull out of their arsenals as well.
You can hear a broader selection from all these artists on WBGO‘s HD2 and online stream The Jazz Bee. And once again, information about NPR Music’s coverage from Newport is all at npr.org/newportjazz.
Artists In This Mix:
3 Cohens (Yuval, Anat & Avishai) • Ambrose Akinmusire • Anat Cohen (3 Cohens, 3 Clarinets) • Becca Stevens • Bill Frisell • Brian Lynch feat. Pedrito Martinez • Catherine Russell • Christian McBride & Inside Straight • Dafnis Prieto • Darcy James Argue • Dave Douglas • Dianne Reeves • Dr. John • Evan Christopher (3 Clarinets) • Gretchen Parlato • Jack DeJohnette • James Carter • Jason Moran • Jenny Scheinman • Joe Lovano • John Ellis & Double-Wide • John Hollenbeck & The Claudia Quintet +1 • Jon Cleary • Jonathan Batiste • Ken Peplowski (3 Clarinets) • Kurt Elling • Laurent Coq • Lewis Nash • Lionel Loueke • Maria Schneider Orchestra • Miguel Zenon • Pat Metheny Unity Band • Preservation Hall Jazz Band • Rudresh Mahanthappa • Ryan Truesdell/Gil Evans • Tedeschi Trucks Band • The Bad Plus • Vince Giordano • Yosvany Terry feat. Pedrito Martinez
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