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
Red Sea Jazz Festival Randy Brecker & Mark Egan, The Jazz Beatles, Miroslav Vitous & John Abercrombie and Charlie Haden & John Scofield. The festival draws audiences of 70,000, with an average of 2,500 people per concert. It is run as a non-profit organization and enjoys the support of the Municipality of Eilat, the Ministries of Culture and Tourism, the Eilat Hotel Association and various business sponsors. In 2008, Israeli jazz bassist Avishai Cohen was named artistic director, replacing Dan Gottfried, who initiated the festival and served as artistic director for 22 years. During his tenure Gottfried has showcased over 1500 world-famous Jazz artists