On Thursday August 3 on the Quad Stage at Fort Adams State Park overlooking Newport Harbor, Grammy Lifetime Award Winner George Wein presented a Newport Jazz Festival extra “A Bridge Together,” connecting Jazz, African beats and Indian Carnatic music. Wein has been considered “the most famous jazz impresario” and “the most important non-player… in jazz history”. A Bridge Together featured millennial twins Riya and Sara Kapoor with Guru Swati Bhise, conductor and choreographer. The Jazz quartet was led by award-winning guitarist Rez Abbasi and Maguette Camara directed the west African compositions.
A Bridge Together not only amalgamated multicultural sounds and instruments, it also used several origins of dance as an art form and there was an abundant amount of color used in costumes in conjunction with stage video backround. The West African mridangam, tabla and djembe mixed with the guitar and saxophone resulting in a symphonious facet, one of many used in the total composition. The Interactive blend captivated the audience as a perceived realization set in, raising the question “Are we so different after all?”. A Bridge Together demonstrated how cultures can interact on a melodious level in the microcosm and it raises another, so why not in the macro?
“These young women are tremendous,” said Wein. “The dances are very intricate and beautiful, but what I loved is how they brought jazz into these very traditional art forms. They’ve modernized the dances in a wonderful way while adding a delightfully different perspective to jazz music.”
The Kapor sisters first appeared on stage at the age of 15 at their debut event at Jazz at Lincoln Center. George Wein, founder of Newport Festivals Foundation was in the audience. The sisters continue to study Bharatanatyam, an ancient Indian dance form used to articulate religious compositions using hand, eye and face muscle gestures in New York.
Bridgefest was founded in 2009 by the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Newport County to celebrate Newport’s musical community. Other Bridgefest events will be announced in the coming weeks.
Mission: Newport Festivals Foundation 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 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. The Educational Initiatives of the Foundation aim to foster opportunity, inspire through exposure and facilitate the collection of resources needed for musicians, emerging and established, to celebrate and innovate. For more information, please visitwww.newportfestivalsfoundation.org.
The Newport Festivals Foundation fosters the legacy and expands the impact of its Festivals through educational initiatives that celebrate innovation while preserving the deep traditions inherent in Jazz and Folk music.
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