George Wein, promoter of open-air festivals, dies

George Wein, in 1970.David Redfern / Redferns

George Wein, musician and concert organizer, died on Monday, September 13, at his home in New York, at the age of 95.

Wein founded the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, which he later replicated in different latitudes.

In the company of Pete Seeger he set up the Newport Folk Festival, culturally also very relevant, but more intermittent.

He belonged to a generation marked by its participation in the Second World War. Born in 1925 to a prosperous Jewish family in Massachusetts, Wein demonstrated his independence when it came to taking advantage of the advantages reserved for discharged soldiers: while studying, he performed as a jazz pianist; in 1950 he opened a club in Boston, Storyville, with a record label of the same name. Perhaps he would have stayed with a worthy local promoter if he hadn't coincided with a couple of music-loving millionaires who got bored during their summers in the coastal town of Newport, Rhode Island. Wein, who was familiar with the classical music events held in the Tanglewood Hills, suggested they organize an open-air jazz festival. Big audacity: Keep in mind that Newport still had racial segregation in hotels and restaurants.

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• The man who made jazz fly

Although Wein would later break with his patrons, the idea took off.

Newport was relatively close (300 kilometers) to New York, and the promoter had the ability to hire leading figures who appreciated the opportunity to perform on a big stage under the stars, without the limitations of the usual nightspots.

Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald and so on.

The contrast between Newport musicians and audiences was faintly reflected in

a contemporary film, with Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong.

In reality, Wein avoided

and modulated the offer so as not to scare the audience. He earned the enmity of the irascible Charles Mingus, who tried to counter-program with a more radical festival free of corporate publicity. Wein, however, had the sympathy of the jazz staff, who knew he was married to a highly cultured African-American, Joyce Alexander. His heart was on the left, too: he teamed up with someone who was on many blacklists, Pete Seeger, to develop the Newport Folk Festival, brimming with distinctly anti-racist messages.

In general, Wein showed tolerance when filling out his posters, as was immortalized in the documentary

in 1958 he featured Chuck Berry, a name that was not obvious then for jazz fans. He also took the risk of taking Bob Dylan with an electric band to the 1965 Folk Festival, in this case without happy result: that day the respectable decided to boo the heretic. As the sixties progressed, with the jazz market in crisis, Wein opened up to rock and

; Newport was filled with a massive and unruly audience. After some riots in 1971, the festival stopped taking place.

At that time, Newport could have gone down in history simply as the predecessor of Monterey, Woodstock or the Isle of Wight. But Wein did not give up. He brought the concept to New York City, with indoor concerts, and to Saratoga Springs, also in New York State. He also agreed to change the name to sponsors such as Kool cigarettes or the electronics company JVC. His

helped consolidate other initiatives, such as the Jazz and Heritage Festival, in New Orleans, or the Playboy Jazz Festival, in Los Angeles. It was also requested from France, Germany, Japan and other countries.

In 1981, the Newport Jazz Festival returned to its hometown: the authorities no longer disliked music tourism and Wein wanted to consolidate the legitimacy of his trademark.

By then its jazz festival model was prevailing, with eclectic programs that welcomed singer-songwriters, adult rock and

He defended his decisions in a splendid autobiography,

Parallel to his activity as a promoter, Wein continued recording and performing, playing and singing with self-confidence.

He released records on prestigious labels, such as Atlantic or Impulse !, sometimes with the backing of a dynamic group called Newport All-Stars.

There he made no concessions: he moved between

and