Each year, I make a point to attend the Newport Jazz Festival.  I continued this annual pilgrimage with a high school band mate of at least eleven years prior to my assignment as a resident physician at Emory University Hospital.  The long hours of internal medicine residency do not permit much time for reflection, let alone conversation about the arts.  I was permitted some much-needed vacation time to attend the “grandfather of all jazz festivals” in my home state of Rhode Island.

My time at the festival started with seeing Jason Palmer’s Berklee Septet at the festival’s main stage.  Having majored in music as an undergraduate student at Emory, I was completely blown away by the maturity of these undergraduate students.  While Palmer contributed to some of the compositions performed by the group, the septet went out with a bang with an original tune written by the group’s pianist, Domitille Degalle.

Another highlight of Saturday included Christian McBride’s Big Band.  Christian had recently taken the reigns from the illustrious George Wein to become the acting manager of the Newport Jazz Festival.  He has no doubt taken ownership of the festival, dominating the stage but dropping out on tunes such as “Black Narcissus,” surprising the crowd with an arrangement he had performed on a legendary recording with the late Joe Henderson in 1996.  It’s always interesting to gauge the overall feel of an audience, as either a performer or audience member.  The quiet energy geared into this tune by the ensemble caused what was a loud, if not boisterous, crowd to become hushed and entirely at the will of the band.

Benny Golson has always been something of a story teller at his sets, sharing the genius behind his creative process on the writing of songbook pieces such as “I Remember Clifford.”  I was first exposed to this line of storytelling as a freshman at Emory, when Mr. Golson shared with us stories from his childhood involving a young John Coltrane just learning to play the tenor saxophone.  Golson’s honesty in these stories was disarming.  “I never thought this song would make it, because, trust me, you don’t wake up every day telling yourself ‘I’m going to write a classic today.’”  At the age of 88, his playing remains as sharp as ever.  In the words of trumpeter Lester Bowie, “Jazz is neither specific repertoire, nor academic exercise… but a way of life.”  Golson reveals the substance that this art form has brought to his life.

With the old also came a mix of new, with Snarky Puppy (a funky, atmospheric, jam-band-like ensemble) and the Roots (of Jimmy Fallon lore) closing out Sunday’s festival day.  While these newer ensembles are exciting, if not outside of the realm of jazz, Newport never ceases to impress while remaining true to its origins as a purist’s festival, showcasing young lions while providing an inter-generational forum through which the young and old can both appreciate this under-appreciated art.

-Rob Heinl

[Rob Heinl, MD (Emory BS ’11) is an internal medicine resident currently practicing at Emory University Hospital.  He is an avid jazz listener and an alto saxophonist in the Emory Big Band.]