Tagged: Newport Jazz Festival

Airs Tuesday, March 13 at 9:00 p.m.
Decades after his death, the richly-detailed, soul-stirring oeuvre of Charles Mingus still packs a wallop. Thankfully, the beat goes on in the form of the Mingus Big Band — one of several repertory ensembles organized by widow Sue Mingus. Its latest, Grammy-winning album captures the ensemble's regular residency at the Jazz Standard in New York; this recording finds the band sparking the action on the Fort Stage of the 2011 Newport Jazz Festival. Recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 7.

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.

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.