Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Norah Jones will headline both the Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival this year.
(Photo: Courtesy Carolyn McClair Public Relations)As a testament to her sprawling artistic range, nine-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Norah Jones will appear at both the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival on consecutive weekends this July.
Demonstrating her versatility and wide appeal, Norah will make her first-ever solo appearance at the Folk Festival on July 23, having previously performed at the 2014 festival with her band Puss n Boots and as a special guest with the legendary singer Mavis Staples.
The following weekend, Norah will make her first-ever appearance at the Jazz Festival on July 30.
“Norah Jones is one of America’s great singers of songs,” said festival founder and music industry icon George Wein, who has been organizing the Newport Jazz Festival since 1954.
“The scope of her artistry is so broad that it’s possible for her to appear at both the Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival, while still feeling comfortable that she will reach her audience and fans at these two historic cultural events. We are proud to have her with us.”
Norah is currently putting the final touches on her sixth solo album, which is due to be released this fall on Blue Note Records. Her debut album for the label, 2002’s Come Away With Me, reached Number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 list, and the album’s single, “Don’t Know Why,” ranked as high as Number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.
Jones would go on to win five Grammys for the album in 2003, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Don’t Know Why.”
Come Away With Me became a diamond album (selling more than 10 million units) in 2005.
She has since released a series of commercially successful solo albums—Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009) and Little Broken Hearts (2012)—as well as albums with her collective bands The Little Willies and Puss n Boots.
The 2010 compilation …Featuring Norah Jones featured the pianist in collaboration with Herbie Hancock, Willie Nelson, Outkast, and Foo Fighters.
The 2016 Newport Folk Festival will take place July 22–24, while the Newport Jazz Festival will run from July 29–31.
Benjamin possessed a fluid, round sound on the alto saxophone, and he was often most recognizable by the layers of electronic effects that he put onto the instrument.
Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
“He’s constructing intelligent musical sentences that connect seamlessly, which is the most important part of linear playing,” Charles McPherson said of alto saxophonist Sonny Red.
Feb 27, 2024 1:40 PM
“I might not have felt this way 30 to 40 years ago, but I’ve reached a point where I can hear value in what people…
Albert “Tootie” Heath (1935–2024) followed in the tradition of drummer Kenny Clarke, his idol.
Apr 5, 2024 10:28 AM
Albert “Tootie” Heath, a drummer of impeccable taste and time who was the youngest of three jazz-legend brothers…
“Both of us are quite grounded in the craft, the tradition and the harmonic sense,” Rosenwinkel said of his experience playing with Allen. “Yet I felt we shared something mystical as well.”
Mar 12, 2024 11:42 AM
“There are a few musicians you hear where, as somebody once said, the molecules in the room change. Geri was one of…
Henry Threadgill performs with Zooid at Big Ears in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Apr 9, 2024 11:30 AM
Big Ears, the annual four-day music celebration that first took place in 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee, could well be…
