Newport Jazz Festival Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hired George Wein to organize the first festival and bring jazz to Rhode Island. Most of the early festivals were broadcast on Voice of America radio, and many performances were recorded and released as albums. In 1972, the Newport Jazz Festival was moved to New York City. In 1981, it became a two-site festival when it was returned to Newport while continuing in
Charlie Parker with Strings a string setting. Plans were made to release the results of the sessions as a ten-inch LP. Sessions from November 30, 1949, yielded the first "Charlie Parker With Strings" album ("Mercury MG-35010"), consisting of six songs total, all of which were standards. The success of the first album led to additional sessions on July 5, 1950, resulting in another long-playing album also entitled "Charlie Parker With Strings" ("Mercury MGC-109"), consisting of eight tracks, also all standards. In 1995, Verve Records reissued these fourteen recordings for compact disc, including an additional ten tracks with Parker also accompanied by strings. Five date