Jimmy Heath. Tony Allen. Chick Corea. Wallace Roney. McCoy Tyner. The names and pictures of iconic artists who passed since the last Newport Jazz Festival regularly flashed on both stage’s large screens between sets. While the Festival had made such touching presentations in years past, they were particularly noticeable at the 2021 Festival as thoughts […]
2020 was a pivotal year in the history of civil rights. While a prominent case, George Floyd’s murder was no more the beginning of the struggle than his killer’s conviction was its end. Racial justice has served as a central impetus throughout much of the lineage of Black American Music, from Fats Waller’s “Black and […]
After a year canceled by COVID-19, audience members on July 31st, the first day of the 2021 Newport Jazz Festival could feel the lingering effects of the pandemic. There was a sixty percent cap on attendance. Half of the stages were closed for business. The Harbor Stage became an area for a tent with picnic […]
We continue our conversation with Christian McBride by discussing his thoughts on the connection between music and sports, his work as a DJ, the concept of genre, and some more on the Newport Jazz Festival and his role as its Artistic Director. Part one of our discussion can be found here. PG: Miles Davis used to […]
From its founding in 1954 until 2019, the Newport Jazz Festival had been canceled only once, for a single year following the unruly behavior of non-attendees in 1960. The event also spent a decade relocated in New York City, but still bore the Newport moniker, continuing its legacy from afar. But, as with much else, […]
For most music festivals, the loss of a longtime sponsor could be a death knell. After all, organizers killed the Newport Rhythm and Blues Festival due to its inability to maintain a steady sponsor. The death of the company hosting the event on top of it would be – for most – a certain end. […]
With the success of the 50th Anniversary event, Festival Productions Inc. quickly began work on the 2005 Festival. Like the immediately preceding year, George Wein would be unable to attend the Fort’s proceedings. This time it was not due to his own health but that of his wife’s. Joyce Wein was a brilliant woman. Originally […]
An intense and unceasing downpour left a twenty-eight-year-old George Wein with the difficult question of whether to abruptly cancel his new jazz festival. In response, he adopted a “rain or shine” policy which refused to stop the music. This mindset served the Newport Jazz Festival well over the years. The special 50th-anniversary edition was itself […]
In the four decades since the Newport Jazz festival first took place in 1954, it became a global brand with its production company- Festival Productions, Inc.- hosting hundreds of festivals worldwide. But only one other of their events took place in the city-by-the-sea; the Newport Folk Festival. This changed in 1995 with the birth of […]
The 1990s was a period of change. The geopolitical order in place for nearly half a century ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The first American president to be born after the Second World War took office, bringing different attitudes and policies to the office. Rapid technological development – specifically the rise of […]
