NEWPORT, R.I. - One of the great moments in Newport jazz festival history went down this weekend, and it happened away from the main stage. Pianist Hiromi Uehara had been enthralling the crowd at the midsize stage with her wild brand of fusion when she asked her sidemen to step away for a moment so she could dedicate a solo piece to jazz impresario George Wein, who created the festival in 1954 and stepped in again this year to save it.
Hiromi (she goes by her first name) started picking out a pretty stride version of “I Got Rhythm,’’ but it erupted into a lightning storm that would have stunned Bud Powell. She half-stood and bounced on her feet as she played, her hands a blur. She leaned into the piano and bobbed her head, heavy-metal-drummer-style. All the while, her hands blazed across the 88 - banging up and down the octaves, clanging thunderous clusters, landing precisely where she aimed. When she brought her hands down on the final chord, the audience erupted: The Berklee grad was awarded a spontaneous and sustained standing ovation in the middle of her set.
In fact, many of Newport’s finest moments occurred away from the main stage this year. And to think it almost didn’t happen. The world’s oldest jazz festival was in danger of disappearing when Wein announced in March that he would return to make sure the show went on. With a new sponsor, he rechristened it George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival 55.
Hiromi (she goes by her first name) started picking out a pretty stride version of “I Got Rhythm,’’ but it erupted into a lightning storm that would have stunned Bud Powell. She half-stood and bounced on her feet as she played, her hands a blur. She leaned into the piano and bobbed her head, heavy-metal-drummer-style. All the while, her hands blazed across the 88 - banging up and down the octaves, clanging thunderous clusters, landing precisely where she aimed. When she brought her hands down on the final chord, the audience erupted: The Berklee grad was awarded a spontaneous and sustained standing ovation in the middle of her set.
In fact, many of Newport’s finest moments occurred away from the main stage this year. And to think it almost didn’t happen. The world’s oldest jazz festival was in danger of disappearing when Wein announced in March that he would return to make sure the show went on. With a new sponsor, he rechristened it George Wein’s CareFusion Jazz Festival 55.
