NEWPORT — Trumpeter Chris Botti’s performance to open up the JVC Jazz Festival-Newport last night at the International Tennis Hall of Fame was much more organic, much more old-school jazz than his last appearance at the festival in 2006, or even for that matter his show at the Providence Performing Arts Center last year.

While there were still some flashes of harmonically simple, pop-based, keyboard-laden yacht jazz that got caught out, with neither the force of rock nor the swing of jazz, Botti’s duet with guitarist Mark Whitfield on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and with pianist Billy Childs on the final encore, “One For My Baby,” showed an appreciation for roots that allowed the listener to assess, and enjoy, Botti’s playing in a historical context.

The most impressive moments from a purely technical standpoint would have to be the rubato ending of another Cohen song, “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” the title track from one of Botti’s discs, where the trumpeter showed remarkable speed, stamina and control — holding hard onto some very low notes, screeching and bending some very high ones. And the workout on Miles Davis’s “Flamenco Sketches” let Botti and band demonstrate a range of tempos and rhythms, sensitivity and “restraint on their instruments” — Botti’s words for what made the Davis original click.

The Botti staples were there as well — “Cinema Paradiso,” for which he leapt from the stage and played to a woman in the audience, and “Caruso” from his latest Italia record, a collection of Italian opera and operatic pop.

Singer Sy Smith, Whitfield’s cousin and an American Idol backup singer, not only showed skills of her own but encouraged Botti to play simply and directly on “The Look of Love” and “What’ll I Do,” the latter closing with a nice interplay between some breaking-glass notes from Smith sung far from the microphone and simple, strong lead-ins from Botti.

Of course, it’s not all about the playing — Botti’s self-effacing humor and willingness to develop his bandmates into full-fledged characters (even though none of them address the crowd directly) help the show go down. (Whitfield and drummer Billy Kilson were standout soloists, particularly the latter on “Indian Summer.”) Botti’s long story about leaving college to play with Frank Sinatra, and embarrassing himself once he got there, was funny and inspirational at the same time.

It has to be said that the amount of echo Botti puts on his trumpet is by turns distracting, distancing and annoying. Its artificiality is particularly obvious at an outdoor show (what exactly is he supposed to be echoing off?) and he’s far too naturally skilled to need it. In a show where the pop trumpeter mostly got down to jazz basics, its absence would have been even more welcome.

The singer Ledisi opened the show by singing at the intersection of new-school R&B and smooth jazz. Her self-help-style lyrics were clichéd, but her voice was strong and rounded enough to throw jazz into the middle of the mix, breaking into some decent scat singing at several junctures, including a strong a cappella interlude.

rmassimo@projo.com