On the final day of the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival (Sunday, Aug. 5), sunshine returned—along with tropical temperatures—to Fort Adams State Park. For his third set of the fest, Charles Lloyd turned to his “Friends,” including Lucinda Williams, Jason Moran, Marvin Sewell, Stuart Mathis, Reuben Rogers, and Eric Harland. Particularly righteous sets were put on by two all-female groups (Artemis and Jane Bunnett’s Maqueque), two drummers (Herlin Riley and Nate Smith), and two singers (Jazzmeia Horn and Gregory Porter), while Ambrose Akinmusire offered his Origami Harvest and James Carter chilled with his organ trio. Kudos to Christian McBride, who has now made it through his second successful year as Newport’s artistic director; the outlook for the festival’s future seems bright indeed.
