Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
In Memoriam: John Hammond Jr., 1942–2026
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
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.
Hammond came to the blues through the folk boom of the late 1950s and early 1960s, which he experienced firsthand in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Mar 2, 2026 9:58 PM
John P. Hammond (aka John Hammond Jr.), a blues guitarist and singer who was one of the first white American…
“Cerebral and academic thought is a different way to approach music,” Flea says of his continuing dive into jazz. “I’ve always relied on emotion and intuition and physicality.”
Mar 30, 2026 10:30 PM
In the relatively small pantheon of certifiable rock stars venturing into the intersection of pop music and jazz, the…
Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be among the headliners at this year’s DC JazzFest.
Mar 2, 2026 9:48 PM
The first wave of artists scheduled to perform at the 2026 DC JazzFest have been announced. This year’s headliners…
Blindfold Test proctor Ted Panken, left, with the Grammy-winning Nicole Zuraitis.
Feb 24, 2026 12:00 PM
After earning the 2024 Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy for her seventh album, How Love Begins (La Reserve), comprising 12…
“These days, with curated news, where people only get half the story, people can’t even speak to family members anymore,” Schneider laments.
Mar 10, 2026 1:43 PM
Maria Schneider is doing her part to try to fix what ails America. Which got her thinking about crows, specifically,…
