..... well, at Ft, Adams in Newport, RI anyway ..... JVC Jazz Festival ... featured artists: Latin Jazz Pianist Michel Camillo ... George Benson ... India.Arie was scheduled to perform but cancelled due to illness ...
also appearing was a beautiful and classy young female vocalist with a voice to match - Lizz Wright - 23 yrs young and she was superb... Terence Blanchard Quintet blew some real cool straight ahead stuff ... his bass player was 'stuck in traffic somewhere' (one couple near us took 5 hrs from New York .. should have been 3 max!!!) ... used a player from one of the other groups who, as he said "read his ass off" ...
Michel Camillo is one of the top jazz artists of the day ... octaves, block chords or single note lines (usually in harmony with his left hand), whatever, his hands were like a blur over the keybed (a Steinway, Scott ) ... had tenor player David Sanchez as a guest ... had there been a roof they would have blown it off ...
George Benson did a really good, fun set ... the prior 2 times we saw Benson at the Festival it poured!!!... one time was actually during the early part of a hurricane... Saturday he kind of rushed between songs, not stopping for too much banter, and at one time said . "the rain ain't going to get me this year"... the crowd knew what he was referring to...
4 or 5 acts, and the only electronic equipment was in Benson's band ... 3 synths.. It was great listening to acoustic music most of the day ...
Speaking of Benson, anyone know if he has been ill or anything? ... his face, especially his cheeks and under his eyes seemed bloated and puffy ... his voice also seemed a little raspy in spots...
all in all another GREAT day at the Newport Jazz Festival.....
t.