Newport Jazz Festival looking for new sponsor
Friday, March 27, 2009
NEWPORT, R.I. — The Newport Jazz Festival is in the market for a new sponsor.
Jazz impresario George Wein, who founded the iconic festival in 1954, said Tuesday that the event’s 24-year relationship with the JVC consumer electronics company has ended.
AP file photo
In this Dec. 16, 2008, file photo, Jazz Fest founder and executive producer George Wein reacts as he plays with a jazz band in New Orleans.
Wein said JVC told him it couldn’t sponsor the festival again because of the recession.
“The company placed us at a level that no one can ever imagine and affected jazz and the jazz festival in a way that increased awareness of the art form and touched people around the world,” the 83-year-old Wein said.
Wein sold his production company in 2007, but announced earlier this month that he would step in and produce the show again after the new producer, Festival Network, ran into financial problems.
The festival is scheduled for Aug. 7-9. Wein said the show is fully booked and that the lineup will be announced next month.
The festival has attracted musicians including Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
