Pianist Chick Corea heads up Newport Jazz Festival lineup

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) - Pianist Chick Corea, who turns 75 this summer, will be celebrating the milestone with his all-star trio at the nation's oldest jazz festival.

Newport Jazz Festival producer George Wein announced the lineup on Tuesday, with more than 50 musicians and bands performing July 29-31, a Friday through Sunday, in the seaside resort.

Corea's Trilogy, with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, and vocalist Gregory Porter will share the bill at the Friday night concert at the International Tennis Hall of Fame and appear again on the Saturday at Fort Adams State Park.

Among those making their Newport Jazz Festival debuts will be Los Angeles-based saxophonist Kamasi Washington, who emerged from obscurity last year with his three-CD Coltrane-inspired, soulful jazz-crossover album "The Epic" and as a key contributor to Kendrick Lamar's Grammy-nominated hip-hop opus "To Pimp a Butterfly." He will perform on the Friday and the Sunday at Fort Adams.

Wein, who has produced the festival since 1954, said in announcing the lineup that this year's event will "present a panoply of the world of jazz" that ranges "from ragtime piano to the most progressive innovations in the minds of today's young musicians."

Also appearing over that weekend at Fort Adams will be Angelique Kidjo, The Bad Plus, the John Scofield/Joe Lovano Quartet, Charles Lloyd, Jose James, Robert Glasper, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Kenny Barron, among others.

The opening day program at Fort Adams dedicated to emerging artists will feature such groups as the New Orleans funk band Galactic, Kneebody and Tyshawn Sorey & Alloy.

Last year's festival celebrated the 60th anniversary of Miles Davis' historic Newport debut and featured panel discussions focusing on him.

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Online: http://www.newportjazzfest.org