The Newport Jazz Festival started back in 1954, and has dazzled sun-drenched audiences with top-tier jazz performances ever since. Philadelphia native and Jazz Night In America host Christian McBride also serves as the artistic director of the festival, and has some special, hand-picked sets that will be featured on the program, which airs on WRTI 90.1 on Sunday evenings from 8 to 9 PM.
The three-part series, starting withpart 1 on Sunday, August 2nd, will highlight the Golden Age of the festival, with (then) rising star Clifford Brown playing with drummer Max Roach, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and the Horace Silver Quintet.
The second installment, The Stars Shine, features the biggest names to hit the Newport stages, like Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Cannonball Adderley, and Louis Armstrong, along with a famous reunion performance from the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
The final episode showcases the Modern All Stars that showed their chops at Newport, featuring (now) greats, Herbie Hancock, The Jazz Futures, the Roy Hargrove Quartet and Artemis.
Nothing says summer like a good jazz festival, and, luckily, we are able to provide you with some of the best performances from one of the great festivals. Be sure to join us to celebrate Newport in all it's glory on August 2nd, 9th and 16th at 8 PM on WRTI.
