The
Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in
Newport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite
Elaine LorillardElaine Guthrie Lorillard was an American socialite who was a founder of the Newport Jazz Festival. -Early years:...
, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario
George WeinGeorge Wein is an American jazz promoter and producer who has been called "the most famous jazz impresario" and "the most important non-player... in jazz history"...
to organize the event to help them bring jazz to the resort town.
Most of the early festivals were broadcast on
Voice Of AmericaVoice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
radio and many performances were recorded and have been issued by various record labels.
The Newport Jazz Festival moved to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1972 and became a two site festival in 1981 when it returned to Newport and also continued in New York. The festival was known as the JVC Jazz Festival from 1984 to 2008. During the economic downturn of 2009, JVC ceased its support of the festival and was replaced by CareFusion.
The festival is hosted in Newport at
Fort Adams State ParkFort Adams State Park is located at the mouth of Newport Harbor, offering spectacular panoramas of both the harbor and Narragansett Bay. The park is home to Fort Adams, the largest coastal fortification in the United States...
, and is often held in the same month as its sister festival, the
Newport Folk FestivalThe Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
.
Festival's establishment at Newport
In 1954 the first Newport Jazz Festival (billed actually as the "First Annual American Jazz Festival") was held at
Newport CasinoThe Newport Casino is located at 186-202 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987.- 1879 - 1900 :The complex was commissioned in 1880 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr...
in the
Bellevue Avenue Historic DistrictThe Bellevue Avenue Historic District is located along and around Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Its property is almost exclusively residential, including many of the mansions built by affluent summer vacationers in the city around the turn of the 20th century, including...
of Newport, Rhode Island. It incorporated academic panel discussions and featured live musical performances. The live performances were set outdoors, on a lawn. These performances were given by a number of notable jazz musicians including
Billie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
. The festival was hailed by major magazines and newspapers. About 11,000 attended between the two days. In general, the festival was regarded as a major success.
In 1955 organizers were planning a second year for the festival but needed to find a new venue. The Newport Casino would not again host the festival since its lawn and other facilities didn't stand up well to such a large event. Festival backer Elaine Lorillard, with her husband, purchased "
BelcourtBelcourt Castle is the former summer cottage of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Begun in 1891 and completed in 1894, it was intended to be used for only six to eight weeks of the year...
", a large estate which was available locally, in hopes of hosting the festival there. The neighborhood would disallow that plan, citing concerns about potential disturbance. The festival went forward at Freebody Park, an arena for sports near the casino. The workshops and receptions would be held at Belcourt, and the music presented at Freebody Park.
Some in upper-class Newport were opposed to the festival. Jazz appreciation was not common within the established upper-class community. The festival was organized mostly by younger members of the elite group populating Newport. The festival brought crowds of commoners to Newport. Many were students who, in the absence of sufficient lodging, slept outdoors wherever they could, with or without tents. Newport was at first not accustomed to this. And, many of the musicians and their fans were African American. Racism too was a factor in Newport as it commonly was across the land during that era. Traffic gridlock and other contention near the downtown venue were legitimate concerns, and were raised.
The festival continued annually and increased in popularity.
In 1960 boisterous spectators created a major disturbance, and the National Guard was called to the scene. Word that the disturbances had meant the end of the festival, following the Sunday afternoon blues presentation headlined by
Muddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, reached poet
Langston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, who was in a meeting on the festival grounds. Hughes wrote an impromptu lyric, "Goodbye Newport Blues," that he brought to the Muddy Waters band onstage, announcing their likewise impromptu musical performance of the piece himself, before pianist
Otis SpannOtis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
led the band and sang the Hughes poem.
Presentation of the proper Newport Jazz Festival was disallowed in 1961 due to the difficulty of the previous year's festival. In its place, another festival billed as "Music at Newport" was produced by
Sid BernsteinSid Bernstein is an American music producer and promoter. Bernstein changed the American music scene in the 1960s by bringing The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, The Moody Blues, The Kinks and The Beatles to America. He was the first impresario to organize rock concerts at sports stadiums.-...
in cooperation with a group of Newport businessmen. That festival included a number of jazz musicians but was financially unsuccessful. Bernstein announced that he would not seek to return to Newport in 1962.
The Newport Jazz Festival resumed at Freebody Park in 1962. The extinct not-for-profit organization which had run the Newport Jazz Festival through 1960 was not resurrected by Wein. Instead, he freshly incorporated the festival as an independent business venture of his own. He was a music festival pioneer and would run many festivals besides the Newport Jazz Festival during his currently ongoing career.
The 1964 festival was the last at Freebody Park since the event had outgrown that venue also. Festival organizers saw a need to move the festival outside of the downtown area since the festival-caused gridlock there was a contentious point in the community. A suitable site, actually a simple but ample field, which would become known as Festival Field, was identified and the move was completed for the 1965 festival.
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
played the festival that year and new attendance records were set.
Newport strained by festival experimentation
The festival's 1969 program was an experiment in fusing jazz, soul and rock music and audiences. Its lineup included, besides jazz, Friday evening appearances by rock groups
Jeff BeckGeoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
,
Blood, Sweat & TearsBlood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
,
Ten Years AfterTen Years After is an English blues-rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart...
and
Jethro TullJethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
. Saturday's schedule mixed jazz acts such as Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck with others including
John MayallJohn Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
and
Sly & the Family StoneSly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
.
James BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
was among those who appeared Sunday afternoon followed in the evening by
Herbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, blues musician
B. B. KingRiley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
and English rock group
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
.
Miles Davis remarked that the various artists involved were highly encouraging to each other and that he enjoyed the festival more than ever before. He noticed and appreciated the spirited nature of the younger audience. But some clashes did occur. Excess crowds of several thousand who had been unable to obtain tickets filled an adjacent hillside, and the weekend was marred by disturbances including fence crashing and crowd surging during the most popular performances. Saturday evening's disturbances were particularly significant, prompting producer George Wein who feared a riot to announce that the Sunday evening Led Zeppelin appearance was cancelled. That show was allowed to go forward as initially scheduled after much of the overflow crowd had left the city following the cancellation announcement.
For 1971 the festival booked
The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
, a pioneering Southern rock group. Many more fans were drawn than Festival Field could cope with. On the second night of the festival, would-be festival goers occupying the adjacent hillside crashed the fence during
Dionne WarwickDionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
's performance of "
What The World Needs Now Is Love"What the World Needs Now Is Love" is a 1965 popular song with lyrics by Hal David and music composed by Burt Bacharach. First recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon, it was released on April 15, 1965, on the Imperial label after a release on sister label Liberty records the previous month...
", initiating a major disturbance. That year's festival was halted after the stage was rushed by the intruders and equipment destroyed. The festival would not return to Newport in 1972.
Expanded format, relocation to New York City
In 1972, festival producer George Wein transplanted the festival to New York City, calling it the Newport Jazz Festival-New York. An expanded format involved multiple venues, that year including Yankee Stadium and Radio City Music Hall. The 1972 festival consisted of thirty concerts with 62 all-star performers including
Dizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck,
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
and
Roberta FlackRoberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
. In 1973, there were two concerts at
Fenway ParkFenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
in Boston, under the name "Newport New England Jazz Festival."
This format continued with fair success through the next years, but producer George Wein would grow to miss the classic outdoor festival environment lost in the transition to New York City's multiple metropolitan venues.
In 1977, George Wein arranged with
Saratoga Springs, New YorkSaratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
to move the Newport Jazz Festival from New York City to its
Saratoga Performing Arts CenterThe Saratoga Performing Arts Center is an amphitheater in Saratoga Springs, New York, which presents summer festivals of all kinds of music , dance, and opera, as well as a Wine & Food Festival...
during the following year. He established the Newport Jazz Festival-Saratoga there, but also reversed his decision to pull out of New York City, retaining the Newport Jazz Festival-New York in what amounted to an expansion of the festival.
The Saratoga addition demonstrated a trend of using the "Newport Jazz Festival" name in branding festivals other than the original festival at Newport. This trend continued elsewhere, even to Japan's
Newport Jazz Festival in MadaraoNewport Jazz Festival in Madarao was an annual jazz festival held in summer, July and August at Madarao, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The several-day festival featured musicians from Japan and overseas performing on different stages. Owners of pension hotels in the Madarao ski resort wanted to hold...
.
Also in the 1970s, the Newport Jazz Festival pioneered the involvement of corporate sponsorship with music festivals. Working with brands including
SchlitzThe Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was once the largest producer of beer in the world. Its namesake beer, Schlitz, was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was famously advertised with the slogan "When you're out of Schlitz,...
and
KOOLKOOL is a brand of menthol cigarette currently produced by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, introduced in 1933, that has marketed itself towards the "sophisticated man". Originally introduced as an unfiltered "regular" size cigarette, filtered 85 mm king-size versions were later added to...
, the Newport Jazz Festival was presented under various names utilizing a title sponsorship in conjunction with the Newport Jazz Festival brand.
Return to Newport in 1981
George Wein brought the Newport Jazz Festival back to Newport in 1981 partly to preserve the Newport Jazz Festival legacy and to protect his interest in the Newport Jazz Festival name. Arrangements with the title sponsor of the Newport Jazz Festival-New York had seen that festival promoted as the "Kool Jazz Festival".
The Newport Jazz Festival did not return to Festival Field in Newport but to the
Fort Adams State ParkFort Adams State Park is located at the mouth of Newport Harbor, offering spectacular panoramas of both the harbor and Narragansett Bay. The park is home to Fort Adams, the largest coastal fortification in the United States...
, a prime seaside venue affording a free view of the festival to on-the-water yachtsmen. A daytime-only, alcohol-free format was adopted. The new venue used three stages to present the festival, as it does today.
Newport, now quite keen to tourism, was extremely receptive to the resumption of its Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was immediately successful upon returning to Newport although no longer quite the draw it had been in its first years, that owing to shifting interests and to the proliferation of competing festivals.
In early 2007, Newport Jazz Festival producer George Wein sold his Festival Productions company in a merger with festival producer Shoreline Media. The merger saw the creation of a new company, Festival Network LLC. That company now owns and operates the Newport festival and controls the legacy "Newport Jazz Festival" brand. Wein continues with the new company in a senior position, but has a relaxed role in festival operations.
Starting in 2007, the Newport festival began serving beer and wine at Fort Adams State Park.
George Wein's Jazz Festival 55
George Wein has returned to the reins of the Festival for 2009. Wein had previously announced that the folk festival, to be known as George Wein's Folk Festival 50, would be held July 31-Aug. 2, and the jazz festival, to be known as George Wein's Jazz Festival 55, Aug. 7-9. Major acts are to include
Tony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
,
Mos DefDante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
, the
Branford Marsalis Quartet-Current members:*Branford Marsalis – saxophones*Joey Calderazzo - piano*Eric Revis - bass*Justin Faulkner - Drums -Past members:*Jeff "Tain" Watts - Drums *Kenny Kirkland - Piano *Robert Hurst - Bass...
, the Dave Brubeck Quartet and
Etta JamesEtta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
and the Roots Band. In addition to Fort Adams State Park, festival shows will also occur at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Notable performances and recordings
Two of the most famous performances in the festival's history are
Miles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
's 1955 solo on "
'Round MidnightRound Midnight" is a 1944 jazz standard by pianist Thelonious Monk. Jazz artists Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Pepper, and Miles Davis have further embellished the song, with songwriter Bernie Hanighen adding lyrics...
" and the
Duke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
Orchestra's lengthy 1956 performance of "
Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" is a big band jazz composition written in 1937 by Duke Ellington. In its early form, the two individual pieces, "Diminuendo in Blue" and "Crescendo in Blue," were recorded on both sides of a 78 rpm record....
".
Miles & Monk at NewportMiles & Monk at Newport was a combined album of a Miles Davis appearance at Newport with an appearance of Thelonious Monk, from the LP era. Despite the title, the two artists do not perform together on the LP, and they are represented on each side by separate live appearances at the Newport Jazz...
documented respective 1958 and 1963 appearances at the festival. Noteworthy soloists aside from the bandleaders were
John ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
and
Pee Wee RussellCharles Ellsworth Russell, much better known by his nickname Pee Wee Russell, was a jazz musician. Early in his career he played clarinet and saxophones, but eventually focused solely on clarinet....
. Eventually, Columbia Records released an album displaying more of the Miles Davis Sextet's 1958 set on an album called
Miles & Coltrane.
A reconstructed
Ellington at NewportEllington at Newport is a 1956 jazz live album by Duke Ellington and his band, recording their historic 1956 concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, a concert which revitalized Ellington's flagging career. Jazz promoter George Wein describes the 1956 concert as "the greatest performance of...
from his 1956 performance was re-issued in 1999. Aside from the actual festival performance of "
Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" is a big band jazz composition written in 1937 by Duke Ellington. In its early form, the two individual pieces, "Diminuendo in Blue" and "Crescendo in Blue," were recorded on both sides of a 78 rpm record....
," including the distant-sounding
Paul GonsalvesPaul Gonsalves, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"...
saxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
solo, the original album used re-creations, note for note, of some of the set's highlights which were secretly re-recorded in the studio against Ellington's objection. The new set restored the original festival performance after a recording from the Voice of America (which broadcast the performance) was discovered and, among other things, the odd
timbreIn music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
of the Gonsalves performance. Gonsalves, it turned out, stepped up to the wrong microphone to play his legendary solo: he stepped up to the VOA microphone and not the band's. Gonsalves' performance originally caused a near riot in the festival crowd.
The 1957 performances of
Ella FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
,
Billie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
and
Carmen McRaeCarmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
were released in 1958 on the album
Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at NewportElla Fitzgerald & Billie Holiday at Newport is a 1958 live album by Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, recorded at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival....
. Those by the
Gigi GryceGigi Gryce was an American saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and big band bandleader.His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his...
-
Donald ByrdDonaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
Jazz Laboratory and the
Cecil TaylorCecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
Quartet featuring
Steve LacySteve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
were released on
At NewportAt Newport is a live album by the Gigi Gryce-Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory and the Cecil Taylor Quartet recorded for the Verve label at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1957. The original LP album featured one side of performances by Taylor with Buell Neidlinger, Denis Charles and Steve Lacy and the...
the same year.
The acclaimed film
Jazz on a Summer's DayJazz on a Summer's Day is a documentary film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, and filmed and directed by noted commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern and the film director Aram Avakian , who also edited the movie...
documented the 1958 festival. Sets by
Dave BrubeckDavid Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
,
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, and
Miles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
at that year's festival appeared respectively on the albums
Newport 1958,
Ray Charles at NewportRay Charles at Newport is a 1958 live album of Ray Charles' July 5, 1958 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. All tracks from this album, along with all tracks from his 1959 Herndon Stadium performance in Atlanta, were also released on the 1987 Atlantic compilation, Ray Charles, Live...
, and
At Newport 1958.
Performances at the 1960 festival by
Muddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
and
Nina SimoneEunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
were released as the albums
At Newport 1960At Newport 1960 is a live album by Muddy Waters recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival. Waters was backed by a band including Otis Spann, James Cotton, and Pat Hare. In 2003, the album was ranked number 348 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
and
Nina Simone At NewportNina Simone at Newport is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It was her second live album for Colpix, recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival on June 30, 1960. All arrangements were made by Nina Simone, and it was produced by Stu Phillips...
.
Performances at the 1961 festival included
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, coming off the success of her two concerts at
Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, the opening night of which was documented on the Grammy winning album
Judy at Carnegie HallJudy at Carnegie Hall is a two-record live recording of a concert by Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall in New York.This concert appearance, on the night of April 23, 1961, has been called "the greatest night in show business history". Garland's live performances were big successes at the time and her...
. Garland was on tour to promote the album, mostly to sold out audiences. Sadly, no audio seems to survive of her performance at Newport.
The 1962 Festival is documented in a film released by Storyville. Among the performers are
Lambert, Hendricks & BavanLambert, Hendricks & Ross were a vocalese trio formed by jazz vocalists Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross.-History:The group formed in 1957 and recorded their first album Sing a Song of Basie for Paramount Records...
, the
Oscar PetersonOscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
Trio, Roland Kirk,
Duke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, and the closing with the
Count Basie OrchestraThe Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
featuring
Jimmy RushingJames Andrew Rushing , known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.Rushing was known as "Mr...
.
Part of the appearances by
John ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
and
Archie SheppArchie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
from the 1965 Festival appeared on the album
New Thing at NewportNew Thing at Newport is a 1965 album by jazz musicians John Coltrane and Archie Shepp.-Original LP release New Thing at Newport :Side One# Spoken introduction to John Coltrane's set by Father Norman O'Connor - 1:08...
. A set by
Herbie MannHerbert Jay Solomon , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music...
featuring
Chick CoreaArmando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
of that same year's festival was released on the album
Standing Ovation at Newport.
The performance by
Albert AylerAlbert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
at the 1967 festival was released as part of the
Holy GhostHoly Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings is a compilation album by avant-garde saxophonist Albert Ayler released by Revenant Records in 2004...
box set in 2004. An Ella Fitzgerald performance from
Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in July of 1973 was documented on the album
Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie HallElla Fitzgerald at the Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall is a 1973 live album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a reconstructed Chick Webb Band, the pianist Ellis Larkins, and for the second half of the album, the Tommy Flanagan Quartet .This was a historic...
.
In an episode of the "
Super ChickenSuper Chicken is a segment that ran on the animated television series George of the Jungle. It was produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who earlier had created the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons...
" segment of
George of the JungleGeorge of the Jungle was an American animated series produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who created The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. The character George was inspired by the legend of Tarzan. It ran for 17 episodes on Saturday mornings from September 9 to December 30, 1967, on the American TV...
, reference is made to a symbolic "Blowing the First Note" ceremony as is supposed to open the Festival; however, it is unknown if such a ritual exists.
External links