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Newport Festivals Foundation Donates Guitars to Pell Elementary School

7/6/2017

Newport Festivals Foundation
Brought Sweet Music to Claiborne Pell Elementary
After-School Guitar Club
with Donation of 10 Yamaha Guitars

Guitar Donation Presented in Honor of
Newport Festivals Foundation’s Producer Emeritus, Bob Jones

Photo credit: Brian Lima Photography

NEWPORT, RI – The Claiborne Pell Elementary School After-School Guitar Club has something special to look forward to when the new school year begins in the Fall. In honor of Producer Emeritus Bob Jones and his nearly six decades with the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, Newport Festivals Foundation donated 10 Yamaha JR1 3/4 Scale Guitars with Gig bags to the Newport school on June 26.

The guitars will be used to teach mostly fourth grade students about parts of the instrument, simple theory, tablature, chords and songs. Providing instruments also will allow students to take the instruments home to practice and present periodic performances for parents and the after-school community at Pell. The after-school program services 8-10 students per session.

“Bringing guitars into Newport's elementary school speaks to the Foundation’s mission of making music accessible to children,” said Krista Sturtevant, Newport Festivals Foundation Development Director. “The students were all very willing to share their tunes with us, including ‘Frere Jacques’ as well as some impromptu chords. Many of them have taken lessons for months while others just recently started, but they all are eager to begin their next music adventures using the new guitars.”

Vernon Reid Added To 2017 Newport Jazz Festival Lineup

6/30/2017

NEW ARTIST ADDED!
PLEASE WELCOME VERNON REID TO THE 2017 NEWPORT JAZZ LINEUP

NEWPORT, RI -- George Wein and Christian McBride are pleased to announce that legendary guitarist and Living Colour founder Vernon Reid will perform a special set on the Storyville stage and guest with DJ Logic's Project Logic at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Global Asset Management, which takes place August 4 - 6 at Fort Adams State Park and the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino.

Local Discounts for Newport Jazz Festival Ending July 4

6/27/2017

ENDING SOON …
$50 and $60 Discount Tickets for the Newport Jazz Festival®
Available at Newport Visitors Center
Through July 4

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.’s
Local Ticket Office Opens July 5

Maria Schneider (Photo credit: Ayano Hisa)

NEWPORT, RI, June 27, 2017 – Head to the Newport Visitors Information Center, 23 America’s Cup Avenue, by Tuesday, July 4, to take advantage of the great local discount for tickets to the Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Global Asset Management. Discount tickets are just $50 for the concert at Fort Adams State Park on Friday, August 4, and $60 for General Admission tickets for concerts on Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6. This special discount for local residents and visitors to Newport is not available on-line.

Beginning Wednesday, July 5, single-day tickets for Friday will be $65 in advance and $75 at the gate. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday will be $79 in advance and then $89 on festival days, if available.

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.’s local ticket and information office, located at 770 Aquidneck Avenue in Middletown, opens on July 5. Office hours are Tuesday through Friday, Noon - 6:00 pm, and Saturday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. The office accepts cash, checks and all major credit cards.

Check Out New Music by Newport Jazz Festival Artists

6/26/2017

2017 Newport Jazz Festival® Artists Share
New Music August 4 - 6

NEWPORT, June 26, 2017 – As the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Global Asset Management draws near, jazz fans are encouraged to take time to listen to some of the new music that artists will be performing August 4 – 6 at Fort Adams State Park and the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino.

“Many of the artists we’re presenting at the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival have released ground-breaking and important new albums this season,” said Danny Melnick, Newport Jazz Festival Producer. “We encourage the audience to experience these artists live in Newport and to support them by purchasing their music.”

Jazz & Broadway Sensation Leslie Odom, Jr. Makes Newport Jazz Festival® Debut Friday, August 4

6/12/2017

Jazz Singer and Broadway Sensation
Leslie Odom, Jr.
Makes Newport Jazz Festival® Debut
Friday, August 4, at Fort Adams

NEWPORT, RI, June 13, 2017 – After winning awards and critical acclaim in the Broadway smash hit Hamilton: An American Musical, Leslie Odom, Jr. could have done anything. Doors opened, opportunities arose, but it is sharing his love for jazz that has taken the spotlight. He recorded an album of jazz standards and show tunes while still appearing on stage, eight shows a week. The self-titled album was released last year and Leslie Odom, Jr., the original Aaron Burr in Hamilton, has been touring in support of the record ever since. On Friday, August 4, he will make his debut at the Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Global Asset Management.

Odom is an enormously talented, crossover star. When he burst onto the scene as the rapping, dancing founding father, the New York Times called him “suavely brooding.” The role made him a Tony and Grammy Award winner, but before that he was already a known TV actor and club performer. Odom, 35, was born in Queens, NY, grew up in Philadelphia and was a musical theater prodigy. He appeared in Rent on Broadway when he was just 17 while attending Philadelphia’s High School for Creative and Performing Arts. After graduating with honors from the School of Drama at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, he acted on television as Sam Strickland in TV’s Smash for two seasons and had a recurring role as Reverend Curtis Scott on Law & Order: SVU. Soon to conquer the big screen, Odom recently filmed a remake of Murder on the Orient Express with a star-studded cast that includes Dame Judi Dench and Johnny Depp, due in theaters in November.

Introducing The Jazz & Blues Art Box, A Remarkable Collection of Great Performances on Video

6/8/2017

Hans Zurbrügg, Wynton Marsalis, George Wein and Hank O’Neal
Present World Premiere of
THE JAZZ & BLUES ART BOX

NEW YORK, NY, June 8, 2017 – Art versus artifact: one we think of as a creative pursuit that is passionate, bursting and alive; the other as an object of historical significance. The Jazz & Blues Art Box is the near perfect fusion of both of these ideas.

Hans Zurbrügg, Founder/Producer, International Jazzfestival Bern; Wynton Marsalis, Trumpeter/Composer/Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center; George Wein, Founder of the Newport Jazz Festival and Chairman of Newport Festivals Foundation; and Hank O’Neal, Photographer/Author/Music Producer unveiled The Jazz & Blues Art Box this evening before a group of collectors, jazz fans, industry leaders, musicians and media at a world-premiere event at The New School.

Archived from the storied International Jazzfestival Bern, The Jazz & Blues Art Box offers what Hank O’Neal calls the “most remarkable collection of jazz and blues performances on video ever assembled.” For universities and libraries, it is an educational research tool of unparalleled value. For music fans of all stripes, it’s a front row seat for watching some of the greatest musicians who have ever stepped on a stage.

To understand The Jazz & Blues Art Box is to go back to its origins in Bern, Switzerland. There, beginning in the early 1960s, noted Swiss entrepreneur and jazz enthusiast Hans Zurbrügg was seeding what would become one of Europe’s great jazz festivals, both as a musician in the Wolverines Jazz Band, and as a jazz club promoter. By 1976, Hans would be the founder and producer of the Bern Festival. Both up-and-coming musicians and the greats of the era (Oscar Peterson, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Sarah Vaughan, Clark Terry, Benny Carter, and Gerry Mulligan) hit the boards in Bern.

Bridgefest Crosses Continents with "A Bridge Together," an International Music and Dance Event

5/24/2017

Newport Festivals Foundation’s Bridgefest® Crosses Continents with “A Bridge Together,” an International Music and Dance Event
Connecting American Jazz, African Beats and Indian Carnatic Music
at Fort Adams State Park, August 3, 6:30 pm

This Newport Jazz Festival® “Extra” Is Free and Open to All

Riya and Sara Kapoor (Photo credit: Kristin Hoebermann); Rez Abbasi (Photo credit: John Rogers)

NEWPORT, RI, May 24, 2017 – Bridgefest 2017, now in its second year under the auspices of Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. will present A Bridge Together, a special Free concert and Newport Jazz Festival® “extra” that will take place on Thursday, August 3, at 6:30 pm on the Quad Stage at Fort Adams State Park.

This pre-Newport Jazz Festival event will showcase the multicultural connections of music between movement. The two-part concert features dance segments by 17-year old twins, Riya and Sara Kapoor, as well as a jazz quartet led by award-winning guitarist Rez Abbasi and a Carnatic Orchestra featuring musicians from India with arrangements and choreography by renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Swati Bhise. West African compositions, led by the noted West African choreographer, Maguette Camara, will round out the evening.

Dr. Glory's Youth Theatre and The Riverside Church Present "Shad, Mesch and Abed," FREE Family Musical on June 11, 2:00 pm

5/23/2017

To view full-size, please click HERE.

Newport Jazz Festival Celebrates Festival Artists Ranked on "Best Of" Lists

5/9/2017

Newport Jazz Festival® and Festival Artists Rank on “Best Of” Lists
on JazzTimes Critics and Readers Polls

Festival Artists Also Nominated for Awards by Jazz Journalists Association

All photos by Ayano Hisa. Left: Christian McBride; Top right: Maria Schneider; Bottom right: Cécile McLorin

NEWPORT, RI, May 9, 2017 – With a finger always on the pulse of the best in jazz, the Newport Jazz Festival® is pleased to celebrate festival artists who have won and been ranked on the JazzTimes Readers’ and Critics Polls and nominated for honors by the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA). Newport Jazz Festival was also among the favorites selected by critics and fans.

Chico Freeman Celebrates His First Anniversary Back in the U.S.

5/2/2017

Chico Freeman Celebrates His First Anniversary Back in the U.S. with Concerts in Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, New York and Pittsburgh

Photo credit: Lois Gilbert

NEW YORK, NY, May 2, 2017 – After living in Europe for more than a dozen years, saxophonist Chico Freeman has been enjoying life at home for the past year. Touring around the country with eyes wide open looking at America with a fresh new perspective, he celebrates the anniversary of his homecoming with concerts in Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, New York and Pittsburgh.

“The moment I returned to New York, I heard the sounds, smelled the aromas, felt the spirit of home,” said Freeman. “I immediately hit the clubs and concert halls and caught as much music as I could. My homecoming reinforced what I had learned about myself and my music while working and living among different cultures – I can draw from the past, experience the present and think about my future, but all I really have to do is play my heart out and reach for infinite possibilities.”

Chico Freeman’s upcoming dates include:

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Newport Festivals Foundation Brought Sweet Music to Claiborne Pell Elementary After-School Guitar Club with Donation of 10 Yamaha Guitars Guitar Donation Presented in Honor of Newport Festivals Foundation’s Producer Emeritus, Bob Jones

NEW ARTIST ADDED! PLEASE WELCOME VERNON REID TO THE 2017 NEWPORT JAZZ LINEUP ​

ENDING SOON …$50 and $60 Discount Tickets for the Newport Jazz Festival®Available at Newport Visitors Center​Through July 4 Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.’sLocal Ticket Office Opens July 5​

2017 Newport Jazz Festival® Artists Share ​New Music August 4 - 6

Jazz Singer and Broadway SensationLeslie Odom, Jr.Makes Newport Jazz Festival® Debut​Friday, August 4, at Fort Adams

Hans Zurbrügg, Wynton Marsalis, George Wein and Hank O’NealPresent World Premiere of ​THE JAZZ & BLUES ART BOX

Newport Jazz Festival® and Festival Artists Rank on “Best Of” Listson JazzTimes Critics and Readers Polls Festival Artists Also Nominated for Awards by Jazz Journalists Association