Newport Jazz Festival® and Festival Artists Rank on "Best Of" Lists on JazzTimes Critics and Readers Polls

All photos by Ayano Hisa

Left: Christian McBride; Top right: Maria Schneider; Bottom right: Cécile McLorin Salvant

With a finger always on the pulse of the best in jazz, the Newport Jazz Festival® is pleased to celebrate festival artists who have won and been ranked on the JazzTimes Readers' and Critics Polls and nominated for honors by the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA). Newport Jazz Festival was also among the favorites selected by critics and fans.

JazzTimes readers' favorite artists who are performing in Newport are (winning categories are in bold):

*Newport Jazz Festival®: Jazz Festival

*Christian McBride: Artist of the Year; Double Bassist;Acoustic Small Group/Artist

*Jack DeJohnette: New Release; Drummer; Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Artist

*John Scofield: New Release

*Branford Marsalis Quartet: Vocal Release; Soprano Saxophonist

*Cyrille Aimeé: Vocal Release

*Snarky Puppy: Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Artist

*Maria Schneider: Big Band/Large Ensemble; Arranger; Composer

*Benny Golson: Jazz Book of the Year

*Trombone Shorty: Trombonist

*Joey DeFrancesco: Organist

*John Scofield: Guitarist

*Esperanza Spalding: Double Bassist; Electric Bassist

*Warren Wolf: Vibraphonist

*Terri Lyne Carrington: Drummer

*Cécile McLorin Salvant: Female Vocalist

*Esperanza Spalding: Female Vocalist

*Béla Fleck: Miscellaneous Instrumentalist

*WBGO-FM (Festival Travel Partner): Syndicated Radio Program; Podcast

The JazzTimes Critics' Poll included the following artists who are performing in Newport (winning categories are in bold):

*Newport Jazz Festival: Jazz Festival

*Theo Croker: New Artist

*Wadada Leo Smith: Artist of the Year; Trumpeter/Cornetist/Flugelhornist; Composer

*Henry Threadgill: Artist of the Year; Acoustic Small Group/Artist; Composer; Flutist

*Esperanza Spalding: Artist of the Year; Electric Bassist

*Jack DeJohnette: Acoustic Small Group/Artist; Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Artist; Drummer

*Maria Schneider: Big Band/Large Ensemble; Arranger

*Branford Marsalis: Soprano Saxophonist

*Vijay Iyer: Pianist

*Jason Moran: Pianist

*Joey DeFrancesco: Organist

*John Scofield: Guitarist

*Christian McBride: Double Bassist

*Warren Wolf: Vibraphonist

*Tyshawn Sorey: Drummer; Composer

*Cécile McLorin Salvant - Female Vocalist

*Cyrille Aimeé - Female Vocalist

*Béla Fleck - Miscellaneous Instrumentalist

*WBGO- FM (Festival Travel Partner): Syndicated Radio Program; Podcast

Newport Jazz artists who have been nominated for 2017 Jazz Music/Recording Awards are:

                                              

*Benny Golson - Lifetime Achievement in Jazz

*Wadada Leo Smith - Jazz Musician; Trumpeter

*Henry Threadgill - Jazz Musician; Composer; Arranger; Multi-Reeds Player; Flutist;

Midsized Ensemble

*Maria Schneider - Composer; Arranger; Large Ensemble

*Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith - Record of the Year; Duo or Trio

*Cyrille Aimeé - Female Vocalist

*Cécile McLorin Salvant - Female Vocalist

*Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith - Duo or Trio

*Chris Potter - Multi-Reeds Player

*Scott Robinson - Multi-Reeds Player; Baritone Saxophonist; Player of Instruments Rare in Jazz

*Evan Christopher - Clarinetist

*John Scofield - Guitarist

*Vijay Iyer - Pianist

*Joey DeFrancesco - Keyboardist

*Christian McBride - Bassist

*Warren Wolf - Mallet Instrumentalist

*Jack DeJohnette - Traps Drummer

*Up and Coming Musician - Jerome Jennings

JJA winners will be announced at jjajazzawards.org on May 15. For more information on JazzTimes, log on to jazztimes.com.

The 2017 Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Global Asset Management takes place August 4-6 at Fort Adams State Park and the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino. Artists include The Roots; Béla Fleck & The Flecktones; Snarky Puppy; Andra Day; Branford Marsalis Quartet; Maceo Parker; Rhiannon Giddens; Maria Schneider Orchestra; Hudson: Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, John Medeski & Larry Grenadier; Christian McBride Big Band with Special Guests; Cécile McLorin Salvant; Naturally 7; Leslie Odom, Jr.; Philadelphia Experiment: Questlove, Christian McBride, Uri Caine; and Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding. More artist announcements are coming soon. For tickets and additional information, go to www.newportjazz.org.

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. was founded by George Wein in 2010 to build and continue the legacies of the famed Newport Jazz Festival® and Newport Folk Festival®. Under the auspices of the Foundation, the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals present performers who respect and honor jazz and folk music traditions, and at the same time reflect the changes in today's musical trends. In addition, the Foundation presents programs to educate young people about jazz and folk music as presented at the annual festivals. For more information, please visit http://www.newportfestivalsfoundation.org/.