“If you’re here say: I’m awake” — it’s the first set of the Newport Jazz Festival’s final day and Isaiah Sharkey is rallying the troops. The call to arms is rhetorical and musical, with him and the band launching into their rendition of ‘Sunshine of Your Love’, sending decibels through the crowd, awakening and molecules still dozing from the previous day. “We’re going to keep the tradition but keep it moving,” says Isaiah between songs. His set is an embodiment of what he calls “knowing the history and the evolution”, blending undeniable knowledge of the songbook and infusing it with a mixed-spice seasoning informed by jazz, blues, funk, classical, rock and soul.

With Isaiah’s silky vocals and guitar licks from ‘The Masquerade’ still ringing in our ears, it’s on to the Foundation stage where Christian McBride (in his role as Artistic Director) is sitting down with Etienne Charles for a chat. “Day three, a bitter sweet day, we’re gonna have a party,” says Christian, assuring the crowd that they’re in the right place. The conversation is wide-ranging, covering everything from compositional inspiration to Etienne’s Trinidadian roots to gig attire. As they talk about style, Trinidadian calypso greats and Etienne’s time in SFJAZZ, someone wanders by with oysters while others sit on the grass like kids at a summer camp. It’s at times like this that the singular atmosphere of a good festival is at its best: not merely a playlist of great acts, also moments of community and insight from some of the jazz world’s leading minds.

And of course then get the chance to hear them play. Completing the show and tell, Etienne Charles and Creole Soul deliver on being the best-dressed band this weekend (notable mention for Godwin Louis in partucular) with Etienne bopping between trumpet and bongos. While the Christian McBride Big Band brings a more monochrome attire, their music is a carnival of colour with the Freddy Hubbard chart ‘Fireball’ (arranged by McBride) showcasing tight horn stabs and featuring Ron Blake’s wonderful tenor sax lines. A virtue of having Christian as festival director is that he can call on a prolific rolodex of talent for these shows and indeed the set delivers two surprise volcalists in the form of Cecile McLorin Salvant and R&B legend Jeffrey Osborne who both seemed to love every second of the outing.

Sunday at Newport did that special thing of blending old with the new in a manner that was consistent rather than jarring. Many at the Emmet Cohen Trio performance will have met the pianist via his prolifically popular Live From Emmet’s Place YouTube series. Jacob Collier’s headline set constituted what was appreciatively referred to as the ‘British Invasion’ of the festival, and similarly his global reach has been facilitated by a canny knack to produce digitally digestible morsels for the best part of a decade. And then there’s De La Soul who after some technical difficulties make a simple appeal to the crowd: “I need you to put your hands in the air for the love of hip hop.” They launch into ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ which first dropped in 1989, the same year that the World Wide Web was invented. No matter whether you heard an act for the first time on a cassette in the 1990s or on a YouTube channel in the 2020s, Newport is a place where you can see them come to life in an incredibly special, historic setting. Newport Jazz Festival is a place where the greats are honored, the newcomers are showcased and any music fan can find something that will put a smile on their face. So thanks to Isaiah Sharkey for waking us all up, and thanks for the rallying cry to keep the tradition but keep it moving — Newport does this better than most.

Newport Jazz Festival returns July 31 to August 2nd 2026. Stay connected with festival news here. Image credit: Rich Fury.