{"id":2725,"date":"2021-04-19T23:01:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T04:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=2725"},"modified":"2021-07-10T21:07:08","modified_gmt":"2021-07-11T02:07:08","slug":"newport-jazz-part-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/newport-jazz-part-x\/","title":{"rendered":"A History of the Newport Jazz Festival \u2013 Chapter X: Smooth Sailing?, 1984-1989"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Created in 1927, The Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan, Limited – more commonly known as Japan Victor Company (JVC) – was originally a Japanese subsidiary of America\u2019s Victor Talking Machine Company. The parent was the most prominent photograph and record company of the era, renown for its Victrola record players. By 1929, the Victor Talking Machine Company was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America, better known as RCA, which is currently the second oldest record label in American history. As tensions began to rise between the two countries, RCA sold its interests in JVC to Nihon Sangyo, the predecessor to Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. JVC remained focused on making various radios and, in 1939, Japan\u2019s first television. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

World War II had a dramatic effect on the business. In 1943, the imperial government decreed it be renamed Nippon Onkyo (Japan Acoustics) and two years later its Yokohama plant was destroyed by aerial bombings. Almost 6,800 miles away, up to 3,000 soldiers stood on watch at Fort Adams for a potential Axis attack. One cannot overstate the poignancy that, at this same venue four decades later, the Japanese company – now retitled JVC – and the American Festival Productions Inc. would come together in peace to host an annual music festival. The partnership would prove incredibly fruitful; at one point they co-sponsored 150 events across the globe. Additionally, the businesses complemented each other well. By the 1980s, JVC was increasingly focused on video technology and the Newport Jazz Festival provided ample opportunities to test their new offerings. Although the Festival had been captured on film previously – most notably on Bert Stern\u2019s Jazz on a Summer\u2019s Day<\/em> in 1958 – the new working relationship resulted in more video output of the event than any other time. Most of these would be aired on public television each year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their inaugural collaboration took place on Saturday, August 18, and Sunday, August 19, 1984. The thirtieth-anniversary event would present many names familiar to those at Newport over the years including Dizzy Gillespie\u2019s All-Stars, Dave Brubeck\u2019s Quartet, and Stan Getz\u2019s Quartet. <\/p>\n\n\n

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