Features
Sample That!
Don’t you hate it when you check out the schedule for a festival you’re thinking about going to and you discover you don’t know a lot of the acts on the bill? When it comes to the Newport Folk and Newport Jazz festivals, NPR has come up with a way to remedy that situation.
Right now NPR.org is giving away a pair of 12 song samplers through iTunes that feature a selection of past and present artists from Rhode Island’s famous summer festivals.
From the Newport Folk Festival, which is celebrating its 50th birthday August 1-2, come tracks by The Avett Brothers, Billy Bragg, Deer Tick, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Fleet Foxes, Gillian Welch, Iron & Wine, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and The Low Anthem.
The Newport Jazz Festival sampler features artists on the roster for this year’s August 7-9 event including the Branford Marsalis Quartet, Christian McBride & Inside Straight, Claudia Acuna, Dave Brubeck, Esperanza Spalding, Michel Camilo, Miguel Zenon, Roy Haynes & The Fountain of Youth Band, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, The Bad Plus, The Vandermark 5 and Vijay Iyer.
Both festivals will be covered live by NPR Music, with daily Internet streams and podcasts.
Visit NPR.org for details on downloading the samplers and FolkFestival50.com and JazzFestival55.com for complete details on rosters and tickets.