A day of sun, surf, and sound at Fort Adams State Park on Saturday, 5 August 2023.

No rest for headliner Jon Batiste. The Saturday night closer just sewed up a slot at the Newport Folk Festival earlier in the summer. Now he was back for the end of night jazz sendoff…

Our coverage will bounce between four stages: the headliner Fort Stage, the Quad Stage, the Harbor Stage, and the plucky Foundation Stage in the shadow of the Fort.

Bobby Watson Quintet at the Harbor

The Bobby Watson Quintet had the look of the second to last set on a late night Green Mill triple-stack bill.

The act dug in real deep and flaunting that easy familiarity with classical jazz that most musicians search after their whole life.

Plenty of space for applause between solos. Shout out to the quintet giving a shout out to Louis Armstrong Now, the collective born out of the Louis Armstrong museum.

Louis Armstrong Now at the Quad

Now? Right now!

There’s no single way to run a museum. How do you run a museum that’s established in memory of a performing musician? Through performing, of course. Natchmo, Satchmo.

The Louis Armstrong House Museum is one branch of a larger commemorative tree, dedicated to the legacy of the beyond legendary trumpet player. Wait, say that again… “The Louis Armstrong House Museum (LAHM) sustains and promotes the cultural, historical, and humanitarian legacy of Louis Armstrong by preserving and interpreting Armstrong’s house and grounds, collecting and sharing archival materials that document Armstrong’s life and legacy, developing programs for the public that educate and inspire, and engaging with contemporary artists to create performances and new works.” OK, you got it.

The six-piece rolled in with three trumpets. What else you gonna do? Extra points for “What A Wonderful World”.

Charles Lloyd New Quartet at the Fort

Was this quartet playing at two in the afternoon? You could have sunk into this set like a couch on heroin. Days and days. Charles Lloyd brought an established crew to toast the encamped crowd at the premier stage on a hot and glazy afternoon. The listening was easy, and if you pitched camp before noon for the all-day ride you were looking for a musical beverage that’ll go down easy. The New Quartet didn’t disappoint.

War and the Treaty at the Harbor

War and the Treaty proved out everyone’s suspicion that the Harbor Stage was the wild card platform. If you don’t know if the draw is going to be big or small, stow ‘em at the Harbor.

This time the organizers guessed wrong and ended up with a crowd that absolutely flooded the scene. Never mind space under the tent; space around the tent and all through the food truck zone was packed with curiosity seekers.

The Michigan duo checks a lot of boxes, mashing up country, soul, and jazz in a way that tickles all and annoys none. It’s a nice trick if you can pull it off. 

Louis Cato at the Quad

Louis Cato rocked a guitar through a solid set of pop-forward jazzmaking. He’s searching for the Stevie Wonder mantle, with the soul of yesteryear updated for the present, and a singer-songwriter’s instinct for lyrical poetry.

Christian McBride’s Jam Jawn at the Fort

The great organizer and musician and podcaster and so much more Christian McBride was everywhere. Behind the scenes, hyping acts, and performing front and center himself. Here he showed up with Jam Jawn. Which musicians got invited into this elite improvisational circle? Let McBride tell you himself…

Julian Lage at the Harbor

This year’s festival was all about genre intersectionality. If it wasn’t hip hop, it was funk. If it wasn’t funk, it was afro-pop. If it wasn’t afro-pop, it was raga. If it wasn’t raga, it was country. If it wasn’t country, it was the bluesy rhythms of Julian Lage. The trio triangulated the sweet spot between blues and jazz, drawing some jazzheads a little closer to the former. You can bet his label Blue Note didn’t mind that at all.

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily at the Quad

This trio — wowzers. The group had the Quad Stage on lockdown from the open to close of the set. In long, mesmerizing raga form Arooj Aftab sang epic poetry to the audience. The jazz piano fills of Vijay Iyer reminded you which festival you were at. And the intense and unexpected rhythm emerging from the bass of Shahzad Ismaily was a virtuoso standout performance of Friday and all three days of music. When the Newport Jazz Fest overlaps its Venn diagram into world music of this quality, the borders between genres become hazy in the most revelatory ways.

Thundercat at the Fort

If you didn’t see Thundercat at the Fort Stage, you heard him. The bass emanating from this musical force of nature could be heard all across the fort grounds, from the first step off the ferry to the Quad Stage.

Did the volume step on the performances at the other stages? A little.

The Zelig of a musician was everywhere and is everywhere. A king of collaboration. Hump Day News wrote up his project with Tame Impala in our preview of the festival. We said it before and we’ll say it again. Check. Out. That. Vinyl.

Big Gigantic Does Jazz at the Quad

Big Gigantic does jazz, among other things.

The ensemble assembled backstage pre-show for one of those group huddles that you sometimes see pop stars or sports teams perform. Circle up, hands in, heads down, with inspirational words to follow. Whatever it takes to get this big band jazz for the 21st century.

The set relished the jammier qualities of jazz improvisation and never met a rock guitar texture it didn’t like.

Orrin Evans Quintet at the Harbor

The Orrin Evans Quintet fired like a high-powered, late night marvel with Orrin Evans at the piano, except you could enjoy it in the light of a long summer day. The five-piece was not always a five-piece. The group morphed throughout the set like a deranged embryo adding and subtracting cellular mass. But all the instruments, including the trumpet and flute, were pulled back into the fold for the final breakneck jam.

With Joe Russo’s Almost Dead headlining, the first night was on course for a rocking conclusion. Throw in Branford Marsalis to make sure the closer remains in tight dialogue with the jazz tradition. The living legend saxophonist was a late add after Kamasi Washington fell off the slate. The rich just get richer, while Julius Rodriguez and Angel Bat Dawid open up new horizons.

Elder statesman Herbie Hancock closed the festival with a nod to the musical innovation that keeps the jazz tradition vibrant. Diana Krall and Samara Joy wow the crowds at the Fort and Quad Stages.

Photo Gallery

Saturday