Happy Birthday Newport: 50 Swinging Years

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Of the 27 tracks included in this three-disc 50th anniversary celebration of the Newport Jazz Festival, the only one that hasn't been released before is a 1955 performance of "'Round About Midnight" by an all-star band assembled under Miles Davis's name, including Thelonious Monk (the song's composer), Gerry Mulligan, and Zoot Sims. It's too bad famed Newport promoter George Wein didn't include more rarities (and more detailed notes). But even lacking them, this is a consistently enjoyable collection: how wouldn't it be with the likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald all performing at peak powers?

Wein is a confirmed mainstreamer, and that is reflected by his emphasis on traditional jazz and swing. The bulk of the performances are from the '50s, including Ellington's historic treatment of "Diminuendo in Blue," with its marathon tenor solo by Paul Gonsalves, and the Basie band's show-stopping rendition of "One O'Clock Jump." With the composer at the piano, Ben Webster induces goose bumps with his 1958 reading of Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge." Tracks by Coltrane and Monk highlight the '60s performances, while only a few tracks postdate the festival's move to New York in 1972, including a pair of small-group recordings by Fitzgerald and Herbie Hancock's reprise of "Maiden Voyage" with his V.S.O.P. quintet. Blues (Muddy Waters) and gospel (Mahalia Jackson) are represented by one track each. You would never know from Happy Birthday Newport! that the fest was visited by politics during the civil rights and Vietnam eras, but maybe that's a theme for another Newport retrospective. --Lloyd Sachs

Tracks:

Tin Roof Blues - Louis Armstrong & His All Stars
Mack The Knife - Louis Armstrong & His All Stars
Bye An' Bye - Eddie Condon & His All Stars
Echoes Of Spring - Willie 'The Lion' Smith
Just You Just Me - The Newport All-Stars
On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Louis Armstrong
Diminuendo In Blue - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
One O'Clock Jump - Count Basie & His Orchestra
Tiger In Your Tank - Muddy Waters Band

Tracks:

Newport Jump - The Buck Clayton All-Stars
Chelsea Bridge - Ben Webster & Billy Strayhorn
Undecided - The Newport 'House' Band
Avalon - The Jazz At Carnegie Hall All-Stars
Lover, Come Back To Me - Billie Holiday
Back Water Blues - Dinah Washington
Good Morning Heartache - Ella Fitzgerald
I've Got A Crush On You - Ella Fitzgerald
I'm Going TO The Life I Sing About In My Song - Mahalia Jackson

Tracks:

'Round Midnight - Miles Davis
Lover, Come Back To Me - Jay & Kai
I Remember Clifford - The Dizzy Gillespie Big Band
Jump For Joy - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Black Coffee - Sarah Vaughan
Fran Dance - The Miles Davis Sextet
Blue Monk - Pee Wee Russell
My Favorite Things - The John Coltrane Quartet
Maiden Voyage - V.S.O.P. The Quintet

Amazon.com

Of the 27 tracks included in this three-disc 50th anniversary celebration of the Newport Jazz Festival, the only one that hasn't been released before is a 1955 performance of "'Round About Midnight" by an all-star band assembled under Miles Davis's name, including Thelonious Monk (the song's composer), Gerry Mulligan, and Zoot Sims. It's too bad famed Newport promoter George Wein didn't include more rarities (and more detailed notes). But even lacking them, this is a consistently enjoyable collection: how wouldn't it be with the likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald all performing at peak powers?

Wein is a confirmed mainstreamer, and that is reflected by his emphasis on traditional jazz and swing. The bulk of the performances are from the '50s, including Ellington's historic treatment of "Diminuendo in Blue," with its marathon tenor solo by Paul Gonsalves, and the Basie band's show-stopping rendition of "One O'Clock Jump." With the composer at the piano, Ben Webster induces goose bumps with his 1958 reading of Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge." Tracks by Coltrane and Monk highlight the '60s performances, while only a few tracks postdate the festival's move to New York in 1972, including a pair of small-group recordings by Fitzgerald and Herbie Hancock's reprise of "Maiden Voyage" with his V.S.O.P. quintet. Blues (Muddy Waters) and gospel (Mahalia Jackson) are represented by one track each. You would never know from Happy Birthday Newport! that the fest was visited by politics during the civil rights and Vietnam eras, but maybe that's a theme for another Newport retrospective. --Lloyd Sachs

Music:

Music

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