Newport, New York

THE SOUND of jazz filled New York last week as George Wein's twentieth Newport Jazz Festival finished its second year in its transplanted home. The festival, running from June 29 to July 8, brought together over 500 jazz musicians in a variety of settings and formats. From concerts in Harlem's Apollo Theater to Carnegie and Philharmonic Halls to the Hudson River boat rides on the Staten Island Ferry, the festival covered the city. Because of its magnitude and dimension, the phenomenon can not be wholly comprehended or fully interpreted. Despite the fact that jazz reached its apex in the forties and fifties and appears anachronistic to some, the Newport Jazz Festival remains one of the most significant annual cultural and musical events in the country.

Big names and events in the festival included Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack and Stevie Wonder in soul-oriented concerts in Shea Stadium. In an entirely different vein, the first day of the festival saw a reunion after 30 years of the Benny Goodman quartet, consisting of Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa and Teddy Wilson. Expatriate black author James Baldwin, returning to America from France, narrated his biography, The Life and Times of Ray Charles, in a special tribute. Other special festival recognitions went to Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, the late Art Tatum and the late Louis Armstrong.

Time and ticket prices kept all but the most diehard jazz afficionados from witnessing a great number of the events. The events that we attended, although few in number, gave us good exposure musicians spanning 50 years in the history of jazz.

"Midnight Jazz Session II" in Radio City Music Hall brought together 30 musicians in an exciting, albeit seemingly disorganized, concert before an enthusiastic young audience. That many of the musicians had never played together before created more interest than actual disorganization. Three of the seven sets were particularly notable. A bebop set led by Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey was marked by bizarre incidents as well as musical highlights. Art Blakey amused the audience by running on and off stage carrying his cymbals as the fanatics pleaded for an encore. The height of weirdness came when a violinist with a shaved head and a black cape (name unknown--referred to merely as "The Phantom") lurked around the stage in the middle of the first number. His ostentatiousness led the other musicians to bar him from taking a solo in the second number.

John Faddis, an up-and-coming trumpeter, thrilled the audience with his clear high notes and revealed the saddening fact that Dizzy Gillespie at age 56 is slowly losing his chops. This did not keep Dizzy from playing five tremendous measures at the end of "A Night in Tunisia," although Dizzy, in deference, let Faddis blow the famous highnote ending. Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and drummer Blakely also were particularly strong.

THE BILL EVENS TRIO was the tightest set and it was apparent that these musicians had played together before. They gave a polished performance in which pianist Evans virtually outshone everyone at the jam session. The duet between Vibraphonist Gary Burton and Evans was one of the most outstanding sequences of the night and Evans's finale--a vibrating crescendoing run--concluded the best set of the night.

At last, a (not so bluesy) blues set united the jazz musicians of two generations. Although there were many dynamic individual performances, there was noticeable tension between some of the younger and older artists. For example, the solo by electric guitarist Larry Coryele was sensational, but it seemed as if he was being unintentionally repressed by the necessity of the standard traditional repertoire. Saxophonist Sonny Stitt was solid, and John Mayall, a man who appeals to both the early and later elements of jazz and blues, did a good job on vocals and harmonica.

The piano so-lo concert at Carnegie Hall brought with it a different mood and audience, and put jazz in an altogether different perspective. To some, playing Carnegie is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a musician, and the older more sophisticated audience, as well as the musicians, were more dignified and restrained than their younger counterparts. The evening was dedicated to the late Art Tatum. Nine pianists, including special guest star Eubie Blake, took their respective turns at the piano.

Three of the performances deserve special acclamation. Bill Evans, the rave of the jam session, came back and did a soft, imaginative and expressive set which was not, however, as good as his previous performance. Billy Taylor, formally the leader of the band on the David Frost Show, played brilliantly. His skillful quotations were full of polish and wit, and they showed a musical form deeply rooted in the classical tradition. Earl "Father" Hines, perhaps the most acclaimed jazz pianist alive, captivated the audience by holding a right hand trill for five complete courses, simultaneously improvising with his left hand. His performance was the most flashy and exciting of the night, and it served as a fitting finale to an excellent concert.

The festival closed Sunday with Duke Ellington, a prince, and Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul, in "Jazz and Soul on the Island." This concert was a conscious effort on the part of the producers to bring about a greater affinity between the two great black musical forms. It was a natural conclusion to a festival marked by its concern with its audience, and above all, with its concern for jazz musicians and their music.