Phil Madeira at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Marek Lazarski)
Marcus Strickland at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Joseph Allen)
Charles Haynes at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Marek Lazarski)
In: Common—L to R: Joel Ross, Matt Stevens, Harish Raghavan, Walter Smith III, and Kendrick Scott—at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Ken Franckling)
Dafnis Prieto at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Ken Franckling)
George Wein in "The Lean Green Wein Machine" at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Ken Franckling)
Sons of Kemet—L to R: Shabaka Hutchings, Tom Skinner, Eddie Hick, and Theon Cross—at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Ken Franckling)
Terence Blanchard at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Joseph Allen)
ELEW performing at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Marek Lazarski)
Tarriona "Tank" Ball performing with her group Tank and the Bangas at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Marek Lazarski)
Helen Sung (left) and Lauren Sevian at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Ken Franckling)
Cécile McLorin Salvant at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival (photo: Joseph Allen)
Highlights of the third and final music-packed day at Newport included the high-powered and hilarious Sammy Miller & the Congregation; a three-piano tribute to Erroll Garner featuring Christian Sands, Tadataka Unno, and Helen Sung; Marcus Strickland’s compelling space explorations with Twi-Life; a scorching set from the Dafnis Prieto Big Band; and Camila Meza leading her magical Nectar Orchestra (their utterly gorgeous performance may just have been our favorite of the festival, and that’s saying a lot). Shabaka Hutchings’ Sons of Kemet, Terence Blanchard’s E-Collective, and Aaron Diehl’s quietly intense trio—both with and without the regal singing of Cécile McLorin Salvant—offered further reason for celebration.
