Oh, have times changed in Newport

There was a time after the first phase of the Newport Jazz Festival (1954-1971), that jazz pretty much was a dirty word in Newport. The city, known as a playground for the super-rich, was a Navy town transitioning into a tourist mecca. 

George Wein

The jazz festival lost its luster after 1969 and 1971 riots by beer-swilling rowdies in the city, including gatecrashers who brought the festival to a premature end in '71. Producer George Wein took his festival to Manhattan but retained the NJF name. Conditions weren't right for a return to Newport until 1981.

Jon Batiste

Don't blame the 10-year absence on the festival itself. That was the time of the rock revolution, and the little city by the sea didn't have the capacity to deal with huge crowds of people, particularly rowdies who weren't there for the music.

The festival did return in '81, with a subdued ambience and a new setting - Fort Adams State Park overlooking idyllic Newport harbor. Newport again embraces jazz - and the companion Newport Folk Festival - in a big way.

There is a big sign of just how embraced it is these days. Wein will receive an honorary doctorate from Salve Regina University in Newport, and pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste,will deliver the school's commencement address on Sunday, May 21. Batiste will also receive an honorary doctorate. Batiste is musical director for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and appears with his band Stay Human.

Christian McBride

The 2017 edition of the Newport Jazz Festival will be here before we know it, with a three-day schedule of music at Fort Adams (four stages) and a Friday night performance at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in downtown Newport. The latter event will feature singer Rhiannon Giddens plus Trombone Shorty and his band Orleans Avenue.

The huge Newport lineup has something for everyone.

Maria Schneider

I'm particularly looking forward to these particular groups and a few more:

• the Maria Schneider Orchestra
• NJF artistic director Christian McBride's Big Band, with surprise special guests
• Pianist Jason Moran's Fats Waller Dance Party
• Hammond B-3 player Joey DeFrancesco's band The People
• Drummer Antonio Sanchez and Migration
• Jazz 100:The Music of Dizzy, Mongo & Monk, featuring pianist Danilo Perez, saxophonist Chris Potter, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, trombonist Josh Roseman, percussionist Roman Diaz, bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz
• The 20-year-old collective One For All, which features tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis, drummer Joe Farnsworth, pianist David Hazeltine, trumpeter Jim Rotondi and bassist John Webber
• Singers Cyrille Aimee and Cecile McLorin Salvant
• The new quartet Hudson, consisting of Hudson Valley residents Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, John Medeski and Larry Grenadier
• Pianist David Torkanowsky (one of several players who will be featured in the intimate Storyville  club in either solo or small group settings)
• Pianist Cyrus Chestnut's trio
• Tenor saxophonist Benny Golson's quartet with pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Carl Allen

Golson, now 88, is the grand old man in this year's lineup. He made his Newport debut 60 years ago (Saturday, July 6, 1957) as a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra.