Newport Jazz Festival

The Newport Jazz Festival was inspired by Elaine Lorillard (1914-2007) and founded by Jazz pianist George Wein in 1954 as the first outdoor music festival of its kind devoted entirely to Jazz. During the last half-century, the name Newport has become synonymous with the best in Jazz music. In its long illustrious history, the Newport Jazz Festival has presented a virtual pantheon of Jazz immortals alongside an array of rising young artists. From an event "fashioned out of orange crates and baling wire," as critic Whitney Balliett once colorfully recalled, the Newport Jazz Festival has evolved into an institution of immeasurable influence and international reach.

The festival moved to New York City in 1972 and became a two site festival in 1981 when George Wein brought the Newport Jazz Festival back to Newport, Rhode Island partly to preserve the Newport Jazz Festival legacy and to protect his interest in the Newport Jazz Festival name. 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. The JVC family of Jazz festivals aquired sponsorship of the Newport Jazz Festival in 1984 and for the next 25 years presented over 40,000 individual musicians. However in the economic downturn of 2009, JVC ceased its sponsorship of all Jazz festival events leaving the franchise without support.

Partnering with CareFusion, George Wein has returned to the reins of the festival since 2009 giving new life to the iconic tradition of the aptly named "grandfather of all Jazz festivals."

Among the 2019 Jazz artists scheduled to perform were Herbie Hancock, Common, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Corine Bailey Rae, Christian McBride, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dianne Reeves, The Bad Plus, Terence Blanchard, DeeDee Bridgewater, Ron Carter, Buika, Makaya McCraven, Cecil McLorin Salvant, Gary Bartz, Ravi Coltrane, David Virelles, Ralph Peterson, Kandace Springs, Christian Sands, Camila Meza, Billy Hart, Tia Fuller, PJ Morton, Sammy Miller, Joel Ross, Brandon Goldberg, Brian Marsella, Mark Stryker, Ben Morris, Lauren Talese, Dayna Stevens, Sheila Jordan, Tom Oren and many more.

The 2019 Newport Jazz Festival was held August 2 to 4.