Newport Jazz Festival

Airs Tuesday, February 21 at 9:00 p.m. The Berklee College of Music in Boston has educated at least eight bandleaders playing this year's Newport Jazz Festival, and several other sidemen. So it's appropriate that the school annually sends one of its most enterprising student groups to Newport. At the Harbor Stage, Puerto Rican saxophonist Mario Castro leads a group of musicians from places as far-flung as South Korea, Israel and California, and as close as a few hours north on the Massachusetts coast. Recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 7.
 

Airs Tuesday, February 14 at 9:00 p.m.   As a drummer, John Hollenbeck is astoundingly precise and creative with his beatmaking. As a composer, he's going after something akin to that: The regulated insistence of classical minimalism with the flexible color palette of jazz, plus a healthy dose of demented dry humor. And with vocalists Theo Bleckmann and Kate McGarry both signed on for the gig, as well as guest soloist Uri Caine on piano, he had some special covers up his sleeve for his Large Ensemble's Newport set on the rainy Quad Stage.

Listen to this concert again here:

Airs Tuesday, February 7 at 9:00 p.m.  The New York trumpet player performed with his sister, Anat, at the Newport Jazz Festival on August 7. What is it with trumpeter Avishai Cohen and triples lately? He recently recorded a pair of albums with his band Triveni, a free-swinging trio which showcases his fervent imagination. He's also one of three Cohen siblings in jazz's top echelon; Avishai invited his big sister Anat, the celebrated clarinet specialist, to join him here. Fresh off a European tour with Dave Douglas' Tea For Three project, Cohen performs with Triveni and special guests at Newport's Harbor Stage.

Airs Tuesday, January 31 at 9:00 p.m.  In New Orleans, jazz is a building block, a musical foundation. Troy Andrews, aka Trombone Shorty, fully embraces the future-funk and grimy rock back beats which bring crowds to their feet. But at his core, he's also a phenomenal jazz trombonist and singer from the Tremé neighborhood. Stardom awaits with the upcoming release of For True. Here, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue preview their headlining Newport Jazz Festival set with this more intimate Quad Stage show. 

Listen to this concert again here:

Airs Tuesday, January 17 at 10:00 p.m.  Like many jazz musicians before her, violinist Regina Carter mined her African cultural inheritance through music. Hers is a postmodern approach; her latest record, Reverse Thread, is as likely to source from field recordings of Ugandan Jews as from contemporary Afropop and beyond. It's also delightfully easygoing, intricate yet breezy. Carter and her unique band — featuring kora (West African harp) and accordion — are the first act at the main Fort Stage

Listen to this concert again here.