Hot Coffee Playlist for “a music show” by curator Erin Goldberger

a music show at Gangway NPT, Newport, Rhode Island on view through September 15

a music show is the second group exhibition I have curated for Gangway NPT. We planned for the exhibition to open before the long-running Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals that take place each summer starting in late July. The artists were invited to reflect on the festivals as well as Newport's rich musical legacy. Some of the artists already have some stronger connective tissue with music, several of whom are even musicians themselves, such as Ian Felice and Alex Becerra. Many of the artists didn’t have to stray too far from their oeuvre: Andie Dinkin painted one of her salon dinner interiors with smokey jazz musicians, and Dapper Bruce Lafitte created a large work on paper of NOLA school marching bands, revisiting a series from post-Katrina when many of the schools were forced to close.

Other artists went the more sculptural route, like RJ Supa’s nod to the Newport cigarette box and a sound component that includes Dylan's somewhat controversial “going electric” at the Folk Festival in 1965. Similarly, Matt Gliva contributed a physically framed speaker, polished off with a Made in China vintage smiley pin. Overall, the show reflects on Newport as an enduring platform for musical innovation, social change, and community. Additional contributing artists, making for a total of 18, include Eric McHenry, Aaron Michael Skolnick, Jay Miriam, Luke Randall, Andrew Pope, Chris Succo, Meghann Stephenson, Conner O'Leary, Peter Doyle, Daniel Heidkamp, Sam McKinniss, and Edward Givis.

My corresponding playlist is titled "Goodbye Newport Blues" after a Langston Hughes poem/song he wrote after riots in Newport during one of the festivals. It incorporates artists from past festivals dating back to the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954. Several of the songs were played specifically at the festivals (pending that internet setlists are correct ;) ) like John Coltrane Quartet’s “One Up, One Down,” which they played in Newport for the last time as the original quartet in 1965.

This show is part of a recurring curatorial relationship I have with Gangway NPT. Last year, I curated a boat show, and the gallery owner, Roger Kass, and I, already have ideas for possibly a car show, or a(n) antique show for next year.