Newport Jazz Festival

Photo: Kamasi Washington via Facebook

The Newport Jazz Festival may be 8 months from now but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be grabbing your tickets to the legendary festival as well as paying attention to the lineup.

George Wein announced on Tuesday, December 1st that Kamasi Washington, a tenor saxophonist from Los Angeles, will be a major part of the 2016 Newport Jazz Festival.

“Earlier this season, when NJF sent out a poll for requests as to which new artists people would like to see at the festival, the name Kamasi Washington came out at the top of the list.” Wen said in an email.

As the Los Angeles Times has written, “The idea is simple: Listen to more jazz. And if you heed that advice, you need to listen to more Kamasi Washington, the South Central – and Inglewood – raised saxophonist who might have made the best modern jazz record of the year.

Flex tickets for the 2016 festival have recently gone on-sale and nearly 1000 have bought tickets before knowing a single artist, according to Wein .

Flex tickets, which allow you to choose the day of your attendance, are still on-sale and are a wonderful holiday present for your friends and family.

To purchase tickets, visit http://www.newportjazzfest.org/tickets.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...