Doreen Dennis, of Newport, dances to "Respect," sung by Aretha Franklin at the JVC Jazz Festival-Newport. The concert attracted more than 7,000 fans yesterday. The festival concludes today at Fort Adams.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

NEWPORT — While the years and the fame and the sheer icon status of Aretha Franklin mean that her voice can no longer be the audacious, fresh force it once was, now it’s the voice of experience — one of the voices in popular music that cannot tell a lie. And yesterday at the JVC Jazz Festival-Newport, in front of a crowd of 7,300, Franklin closed out the day’s events with a collection of her R&B classics and a few jazz numbers that showed her versatility.

Starting out with a cover of Sly Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher,” it didn’t take long for Franklin to stake out her own territory with a luxurious “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” before launching herself and her big, horn-laden band into a swinging “Cherokee.”

The hits such as “Think,” “Respect” and “Chain of Fools” were there, of course, but the proof is in the ballads, and not only was Franklin heartbreaking on the classic weeper “Ain’t No Way,” but her interpretation of “My Funny Valentine” — full of elongated notes and melisma that enhanced the lyrics rather than calling attention to herself — well, it called attention to her as a vocal master. “I Adore You,” from her forthcoming album to be released in spring, was a bouncy bit of lush soul music, and a marathon “Freeway of Love” ended the proceedings.

Trumpeter Chris Botti and R&B singer Ledisi reprised the highlights of their sets at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Friday night (the former once again adding a lot more straight-ahead jazz to his usually pop-laden mix). Lettuce closed the second stage with a set of James Brown-like funk and jam-band jams, augmented by former JB trombonist Fred Wesley. But there was plenty of straight-ahead jazz to be found.

The quartet of bassist Dave Holland, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Eric Harland got the main stage off to a thundering start, with hard-charging, flinty drum fills and mind-scrambling piano runs while staying within the songs’ structures. They repeated the feat later on the second stage.

In terms of stretching time and space in a musical way, The Wayne Shorter Quartet picked up where the Holland quartet left off on the main stage, with songs blending together, rubato passages breaking into different tempos, rhythms and structures, approximating the effect of an abstract expressionist painting — evocative, without any obvious emotional cues. Shorter’s drummer, Brian Blade, also led his Fellowship Band on the second stage, nearly duplicating the feat but with a few (just a few) more traditional signposts.

On the third stage, singer and pianist Melody Gardot sounded about three times her 23 years — and that was a good thing. Singing simple gospel-and blues-based songs behind simple backings including a muted trumpet-saxophone pairing and at one point only finger snaps, she was a winner. The Warren Vache Quintet flew the flag for old-school jazz, with traditionalist readings of classics such as “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and “Song For My Father.”

Christian Scott was back for the third year in a row on the third stage, and he was being filmed for a DVD of his performance, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ landmark live Newport recording.

“I guess it’s our turn,” the young trumpeter said of the comparisons, while at the same time finding them “strange. … He’s one of the important things to happen in music,” Scott said before his set, and he didn’t want to “demean or denigrate” the master’s work by imitating him, so the plan was “to do what we do.”

That he did.

His opening “Died in Love,” a tribute to two friends from New Orleans shot by an undercover cop who “didn’t ask any questions,” Scott said through tears from the stage, began with a crack from a snare drum and a distorted guitar swell and went from there, Scott playing long, mournful notes over a chaotic pulse before dissolving into a clatter of drums over ominous piano chords. “Litany Against Fear,” from last year’s Anthem album, took a repeated odd-time piano figure (hence the “litany” part, Scott explained) and subjected it to blistering solos from Scott and his bandmates. Cool, powerful and with a classic, beefy tone, Scott’s the real deal.

Festival impresario George Wein spent the day, the first full day of the first jazz festival run by the new Festival Productions, greeting old friends such as Franklin and Wayne Shorter, as is his wont —– by the time festival day rolls around, most of his work is done. “You know these people,” Wein said. “If you had problems, problems disappear. Because you’re still here and they’re still here.”

At the same time, Wein said, “I try not to live in the past. The only time I do that is when I’m writing my book. I’m out hearing young people. … I’m into artistry.”

The festival organizers aim to maintain Newport as a destination festival for jazz fans and artists worldwide, and a quick survey yesterday would confirm they’re on the right track.

Bill Davis, of Philadelphia, had wanted to come to the festival for “years and years and years,” and finally made it yesterday, also making his first trip to Rhode Island. He found the selection of music, as well as the weather, “fabulous.” Davis Saleski, of New Britain, Conn., was at his 10th or 12th Newport bash in a row and pronounced it a haven for “real jazz” with “a knowledgeable audience.” Bill Barke, of Cambridge and Lincoln, at his 10th Newport festival, described it as “a whole vacation in one day.” While he was mostly a fan of straight-ahead jazz (“I think I’ve already suppressed fusion”), he favored sitting in the shade tent, where you could choose from two stages to listen to, depending on which corner you sat in. The third stage was great for discovering new acts, he said, citing Roswell Rudd as a player who he saw last year and immediately familiarized himself with.

New Haven police officers Kelly Turner and Rose Reid were staffing a recruiting booth yesterday, but they couldn’t resist cutting a rug — well, some turf — when Franklin tore into “Respect.” “We tried to hold out,” Reid said, “but it was so good.” She quickly added, “We were on our lunch break!” (They were on their way back to the booth as the second half of Franklin’s set began, Chief, honest.)

The artists were impressed as well. Reed Mathis, of The Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, who opened the second stage, sat in rapt attention behind the stage watching Holland, Rubalcaba, Potter and Harland bashing. “It’s so cool,” said Mathis, who will play with Potter in a different group today. “As a touring artist, you hardly ever get to go to shows. It’s awesome.”

Scott was more succinct: “You don’t get any better than this.”

The festival concludes today at Fort Adams.

rmassimo@projo.com