Tenor Saxophonist Jimmy Greene’s quartet opened the main stage at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. Ken Franckling
Trumpeter Amir ElSaffar’s River of Sounds Orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. Ken Franckling
The a cappella group Naturally 7 at the Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. Ken Franckling
Pianist George Burton on stage at the Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. His quintet, performing on the Harbor Stage, included saxophonist Tim Warfield, trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist Pablo Menares and drummer Wayne Smith Jr. Ken Franckling
The 20-year-old jazz collective One for All at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival’s Quad Stage on Friday, August 4, 2017. The band includes saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist David Hazeltine, bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth. Ken Franckling
Singer Cecile McLorin Salvant performing at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. Ken Franckling
Pianist Vijay Iyer and festival piano tuner Bill Calhoun get things ready for Iyer’s Harbor Stage performance with Wadada Leo Smith at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. Calhoun has been tuning the festival’s pianos for 32 years. Ken Franckling
Pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. Ken Franckling
Singer Leslie Odom Jr., who played Aaron Burr in the original production of "Hamilton" on Broadway, at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017 Ken Franckling
Pianist Christian Sands performed with his own quartet, in the Christian McBride Big Band and in the “Flying Toward the Sound (To Geri With Love)” set at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival. Ken Franckling
Bassist Victor Wooten and banjo player Bela Fleck on the Newport Jazz Festival main stage on Friday, August 4, 2017. The Flecktones closed out the day’s performances at Fort Adams State Park. Ken Franckling
Hammond B-3 organ player Joey DeFrancesco performed with his band, The People, at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Friday, August 4, 2017. Ken Franckling
Singer-multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens at the Newport Jazz Festival’s opening night performance at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino, which was the festival’s original home in 1954. Ken Franckling
Trombone Shorty’s band Orleans Avenue was the headliner at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino, which was the Newport Jazz Festival’s original home in 1954. Ken Franckling
Bassist Christian McBride brought his big band to the main stage at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Trumpeter Sean Jones and vibraphonist Warren Wolf were special guests. Ken Franckling
Composer and arranger Maria Schneider backstage at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival. Her orchestra opened the main stage performances on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Pianist Joanne Brackeen was one of the 10 solo artists or small groups performing at the intimate Storyville stage, a 3-year-old indoor venue at the Newport Jazz Festival. Ken Franckling
Pianists Jason Moran (pictured), Vijay Iyer and Christian Sands performed with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and bassist Esperanza Spalding in the “Flying Toward the Sound (To Geri With Love)” set paying tribute to late pianist Geri Allen at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival. Allen, who had been scheduled to appear with the ACS Trio, died of cancer in late June. Ken Franckling
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Henry Threadgill performed at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival with his Zooid band, which included guitarist Liberty Ellman and cellist Christopher Hoffman. Ken Franckling
Bassist Michael League brought his collective Snarky Puppy to close the main stage at the Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Ken Franckling
Singer Cyrille Aimee waits for her Quad Stage introduction at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Singer Cyrille Aimee, with bassist Shawn Conley, at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Tenor saxophonist and composer Benny Golson performed at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival 60 years after his Newport debut with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band. Golson, 88, was this year’s elder statesman on the Newport bill. He performed with pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Carl Allen. Ken Franckling
Pianist Jason Moran brought his Fats Waller Dance Party to the Newport Jazz Festival main stage on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
The Philadelphia Experiment teamed pianist Uri Caine, drummer ?uestlove, bassist Christian McBride and DJ Logic at the Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Pianist Cyrus Chestnut performing with his trio at the Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Drummer Kassa Overall, performing two sets with trumpeter Theo Croker, on Sunday, August 6, took vibrant fashion honors at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival. Ken Franckling
A few of the Newport Jazz Festival’s historic figures are remembered on the 2017 festival grounds at Fort Adams State Park. Ken Franckling
The JAZZ 100 project remembered Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Mongo Santamaria and Ella Fitzgerald on the centennial of their births with its 2017 Newport Jazz Festival set. Pianist Danilo Perez, saxophonist Chris Potter, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, trombonist Josh Roseman, bassist Ben Street, drummer Adam Cruz and percussionist Roman Diaz were in the band. Lizz Wright joined for the Ella segment. Ken Franckling
Percussionist and singer Roman Diaz with the Jazz 100 project at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Ken Franckling
Founding producer George Wein at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Ken Franckling
Newport Jazz Festival founding producer George Wein, 91, and the festival’s new artistic director, bassist Christian McBride, on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Ken Franckling
Bassist Christian McBride brought his big band to the main stage at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Trumpeter Sean Jones and vibraphonist Warren Wolf were special guests. Ken Franckling
Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci brought an octet for his Newport Jazz Festival debut on Saturday, August 5, 2017. The band included vibes player Christian Tamburr, a frequent collaborator. Ken Franckling
Trumpeter Sean Jones at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
The all-star group Hudson, with drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Larry Grenadier, keyboard player John Medeski and guitarist John Scofield, performs at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
The all-star group Hudson, with drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Larry Grenadier, keyboard player John Medeski and guitarist John Scofield, signed CDs an hour before their performance closing the Quad Stage at the Newport Jazz Festivavl on August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Part of the huge crowd at the main stage for the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival’s closing act, The Roots, on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Damon "Tuba Gooding, Jr." Bryson of The Roots, the house band for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, on the Newport Jazz Festival mainstage on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
Pianist Jason Moran heads home with his Fats Waller mask after the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 6, 2017. Ken Franckling
The Newport Jazz Festival, which was founded in 1954 by George Wein, took place on August 4-6, 2017 on the rustic grounds of Fort Adams State Park, as well as at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island. Among the headliners at the festival were Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Rhiannon Giddens, Christian McBride, Snarky Puppy, Benny Golson, the Roots and many others. JT photographer Ken Franckling was there documenting the event. For a full report on the weekend’s music, see editor Evan Haga’s fest review here.
