Early tickets for this year’s Newport Jazz Festival went on sale this week. The festival is renowned for featuring big names like Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk and Louis Armstrong to Newport since 1954. Danny Melnick, the festival’s producer, said jazz enthusiasts can expect to hear music from a wide range of artists.
“So we’re looking at a very dynamic lineup of great jazz, some Latin music, some blues, some soul – you know, a lot of different things that sort of all work at a jazz festival, a lot of music that’s related to jazz in many different ways,” said Melnick.
Melnick said anyone undecided about which day to go to the festival can buy special discounted “flex” tickets. With flex tickets, people can make up their mind later. Last year, about 24,000 people attended the three-day festival. Grammy award- winning bassist Christian McBride signed on as the festival’s artistic director last year.
