George Wein, who set the standard for what outdoor music gatherings would become with his leadership of the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals from the 1950s into the 21st century, died Monday at his home in New York City. He was 95.
Wein, 95, died “peacefully in his sleep” in his New York City apartment, said Carolyn McClair, a family spokesperson.
Wein grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, his father a dentist with a gambling habit and an eye for his secretary, his mother a pianist of “passable skills” and heiress to a paper products fortune. As a teenager, he defied his family by inviting Black musicians to their home and in his 20s he dated a Black woman, Joyce Alexander, whom he married in 1959. Joyce Wein, who became his business partner and closest adviser, died in 2005.
Wein produced the first Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island in 1954 and founded its folk sister in 1959. In 1970, he co-founded the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Although he sold off the two Newport festivals, which are now being presented by a nonprofit, Wein remained involved with them up through this summer’s gatherings, although he was unable to attend the 2021 fests.
Many live albums have been recorded at the Newport festivals, including, in 1956, “Ellington at Newport,” by his good friend Duke Ellington, which became the bestselling album in the jazz great’s catalog.
Speaking with Relix in 2014, Wein said, “I get credit for things I didn’t do and I don’t get credit for things I did do. But look, I’m a very happy guy, because I’m 88 years old and I’m still doing what I’ve done for the past 60 or so years. How many people can say that?”
In 2005, he sold his company Festival Productions Inc. to Festival Network LLC and took on a more limited role at Newport. Six years later, he established the nonprofit Newport Festivals Foundation to oversee the summertime events.
