Carolyn McClair Public Relations

Newport Folk Festival and CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival
Celebrated Traditional Community Feeling
First Two Weeks of August
And Look Toward the Future for Decades to Come

George Wein (Photo Credit: LaNita Adams)

NEW YORK, NY, August 19, 2010 – Following the celebration of 51 years of folk and 56 years of jazz in the first two weeks of August, the famed folk and jazz festival season ended in a total triumph. Embracing the youth while paying homage to tradition, the Newport Folk Festival (July 30 – August 1) and CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival (August 6 – 8) showed the same spirit that was historically there in the 50s and 60s during the heyday of Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul & Mary, among others.

With a combined attendance of approximately 34,000 for the six days of music, Newport hosted visitors from around the world as well as some of the largest audiences of area music fans in recent history. The success of both events enhanced the City’s cultural tradition and provided a boost to the summer economy.

“I felt I was back in the time when Pete Seeger was the driving spirit of the festival as well as the folk scene when artists jumped from stage to stage performing with each other and carving out a spot on the festival grounds to catch a set by their friends and favorite artists”, said George Wein, producer of the Newport Folk Festival and CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival.

The Newport Folk Festival featured Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, John Prine, Levon Helm’s Ramble on the Road, Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, Doc Watson, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Swell Season, Richie Havens, Tao Rodriguez Seeger and more.

“It was a pleasure presenting old friends Dave Brubeck, Ahmad Jamal, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis along with new friends Jamie Cullum, Chris Botti and other talented musicians. The warmth shared among the musicians and the excitement shown by the audiences were overwhelming. And, opening up the Fort with a stage heightened the festival atmosphere. At both festivals, we experienced the community feeling that folk festival co-producers Bob Jones and Jay Sweet and I wanted. I’m still on cloud nine and I’m ready to start programming the 2011 festivals now.”

Also appearing at the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival were Maria Schneider Orchestra, Jazz Mafia’s Brass, Bows and Beats, Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing, Trio da Paz, Jon Faddis, Anat Cohen, Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Gretchen Parlato, Fly and Wein’s own Newport All-Stars with Randy Sandke, Randy Brecker and Howard Alden, among others.

Newport Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano showed the City’s support of Wein and his festivals by proclaiming August 7, 2010 as George Wein Day. From the main stage, she declared that “George Wein has brought more joy and sunshine to the citizens and visitors of Newport than anyone else.”

Wein is continuing his endeavor to create a non-profit organization so that the festivals will exist as a part of the Newport and international summer music scene for decades to come.

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ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND Replaces Injured Justin Townes Earle on NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL Lineup

Elvis Perkins In Dearland (Photo Credit: EPID)

BAD NEWS > GOOD NEWS! Unfortunately it’s true — Justin Townes Earle injured his hand and needed 19 stitches, and he will not be able to play his first Newport Folk Festival.

HOWEVER, the Folk Gods were indeed smiling. Exactly 45 minutes after receiving the news, our good friends, Elvis Perkins In Dearland happened to call us for tickets to come to the festival simply as fans. We said we could do one better… and asked them if they would like to play. They said YES!!!!

All good wishes to Justin and welcome back to Newport ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND on Sunday, August 1, at 4:50 pm on the new Quad Stage. For the complete 2010 Newport Folk Festival lineup, go to www.newportfolkfest.net.

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To download the daily schedule/cubes, click here.

To download the daily schedule/cubes, click here.

Guitarists Are Choice Picks at CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival Set for August 6 -8 in Newport, RI

Freelance Writer Eugene Holley, Jr. takes a look at a new generation of guitarists performing at CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival

NEWPORT, RI – In Oklahoma in the 1930s, Charlie Christian plugged in, and was the first to swing the body electric. Half a world away, an inventive Belgian Gypsy with a battle-scarred hand named Django Reinhardt put his percussive, six-string citizenship on his axe. A couple of decades later, Wes Montgomery’s thumb unfurled new chordal colors. And today, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin and Pat Martino – contrary to the manufacturers of those video games – are the real guitar heroes.  Today, well into the change of the century, The CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival showcases Rez Abbasi and Julian Lage: a new generation of guitarists, who have mastered the plectral heritage of those aforementioned masters, while elaborating and expanding on jazz by adding Afro-Latin, classical and world genres into their mix.

Surprise is the modus operandi of the Pakistan-born/LA-raised guitarist Rez Abbasi (b. 1965). Under his control the guitar is a six-stringed, caravanserai where Asia and the Americas converge, under his impressive and inclusive improvisational imprimatur. He came to New York in the 80s, armed with a soulful style that beautifully blended the best of Pat Metheny, Bill Frissell and Jim Hall, with a comprehensive knowledge of his ancestral homeland region’s sub-continental syncopations and song forms, which are on ample display on his latest and sixth CD as a leader, Things to Come (Sunnyside), which, The New York Times wrote, “was a strong statement … with a taste for fluid introspection and slippery fusions.” And DownBeat included it in its Recordings of the Decade list. When Abassi and his quicksilver quartet featuring Bill Ware on vibes, bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Eric McPherson takes the stage on Saturday, August 7, at Fort Adams State Park, you will hear a fantastic fusion of East and West that points to the future, as it respects the past.

Bay Area-born Julian Lage (b. 1988) is a back-to-the-future phenom. He burst on the scene at the tender age of eight when he jammed with Santana and Pat Metheny as guitar prodigy, and was the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary, Jules at Eight in 1997, and worked with Gary Burton, Herbie Hancock, Taylor Eigsti and Bela Fleck. Lage is something of a 21^st century guitar polymath, in the sense that he applies his elegant, guitar lines, which unabashedly echoes the walking-on-eggshell solo simplicity of the great Ella Fitzgerald accompanist Joe Pass, in a number of intriguing musical contexts. There’s ample aura evidence of Lage’s all-world musicality on his major label debut, Sounding Point (Emarcy), which embraces Arabic modalities, Miles Davis, Neil Hefti and Elliot Smith. In a review of Sounding Point, The Washington Post wrote that Lage is “… a jazz newcomer more interested in elegance than in flash, more interested in instrumental storytelling than in virtuosity,”  which will be confirmed when he takes the stage with his group on Saturday, August 7. It will be like watching the birth of a new star dawning in the jazz galaxy.

Also, check out Howard Alden’s splendid, full-bodied tone that always effortlessly swings in-the-pocket, when he performs with George Wein’s Newport All-Stars on Saturday, August 7, at Fort Adams State Park.

Sponsored by CareFusion, a leading medical device company, and produced by George Wein’s New Festival Productions, LLC, the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival takes over Newport, RI, August 6 – 8 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino and Fort Adams State Park. The CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival features Herbie Hancock; Chick Corea Freedom Band with Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride & Roy Haynes; Ahmad Jamal; Wynton Marsalis Quintet with special guest Dave Brubeck; Chris Botti; Jamie Cullum; Maria Schneider Orchestra; Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with special guest Jon Faddis and many more.

TICKETS & OTHER INFORMATION

All tickets for the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival are available on-line, by phone and at the Festival office at 22 Broadway in Newport Tuesdays and Fridays Noon – 4:00 pm, Thursdays 2:00 – 7:00 pm, and Saturdays 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

General admission tickets (single-day passes only) also can be purchased in person at the Newport Visitor Information Center, located at 23 America’s Cup Avenue.  Festival tickets are available on-line at www.ticketmaster.com or by telephone at 1-800-745-3000. Service charges apply.

For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055.

For more information and the complete schedule, log on to www.newportjazzfest.net.

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Newport Jazz Festival® is a registered service mark of George Wein and Festival Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.

CareFusion Jazz Festival New York Found New Fans, New Friends and Renewed Faith in the Future of Jazz

NEW YORK, July 20, 2010 – Jazz reared her beautiful head June 17 – 26 and more than 23,000 people turned out to greet her when the CareFusion Jazz Festival New York presented 45 concerts at 20 venues throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

“I can’t thank the jazz community enough for the overwhelming support of this year’s festival,” said George Wein, CEO of New Festival Productions. “It was a risk to take the festival in a different direction, especially after not presenting a series last June. But, it paid off in a big way as music fans, new and old, filled concert halls, clubs, parks, galleries and museums to hear multiple styles of jazz in diverse settings.”

Attendance figures include more than 7,000 people who heard concerts featuring Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette, Chris Botti and Herbie Hancock at Carnegie Hall; more than 5,000 attendees who took over Central Park SummerStage for McCoy Tyner with Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding and Francisco Mela plus the Stanley Clarke Band with Hiromi; and nearly 4,800 fans that turned out for Bitches Brew Revisited and the Mike Stern Trio at Celebrate Brooklyn! at Prospect Park Bandshell. Rounding out the total are the full capacity audiences of young people who celebrated jazz at the clubs and the concert-goers at other venues across the city.

“We were pleased to support the return of the New York summer jazz festival as part of the launch of our company’s brand,” said Dave Schlotterbeck, chairman and CEO of CareFusion.  “The festival also provided us the opportunity to help raise awareness and funding for patient safety.”

Festival partners also felt the impact of being a part of the CareFusion Jazz Festival New York.

“It was a real honor to collaborate with George Wein on the CareFusion Jazz Festival. Our three nights at Barbès were a great success. Not only were they widely publicized and very well attended, but with the help of the festival we were able to reach out to audiences that might not have otherwise come to Barbès. By incorporating smaller venues and large concert halls in one festival, people really felt that they were part of a wider celebration of music. It should happen more often,” said Olivier Conan, co-owner of the Brooklyn club.

Rio Sakairi, talent booker for the Jazz Gallery, stated, “One of the most exciting things for us about being part of the CareFusion Jazz Festival New York was to be able to bring more attention to artists who we feel could really benefit from the kind of exposure and credibility only the caliber of this event could provide. The festival brought wider recognition of The Jazz Gallery, our artists, and our mission. It also presented opportunities to collaborate with other venues and institutions such as WBGO and the Symphony Space. Working with New Festival Productions and Mr. Wein was a blast and we had an amazing time being part of the Festival.”

Laura Kaminsky, Artistic Director at Symphony Space, added, “Our participation in the CareFusion Jazz Festival was a perfect fit for us as an institution and we were honored and proud to be associated with the festival.  The range of styles offered on our five concerts could not have been more diverse … Audiences were happy every night; Symphony Space was alive with great jazz. Long live CareFusion!”

For more of the best of established and rising stars, head to scenic Newport, RI, August 6 – 8 for the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival featuring three days of music on multiple stages. Artists include Herbie Hancock; Chick Corea and The Freedom Band with Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride & Roy Haynes; Ahmad Jamal; Wynton Marsalis; Maria Schneider Orchestra; Jamie Cullum; Chris Botti; Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Jason Moran’s Bandwagon,  and many more. For tickets and more information, visit www.newportjazzfest.net.

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* Newport Jazz Festival® is a registered service mark of George Wein and Festival Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.

Levon Helm Band’s Ramble on the Road to Close Out

Newport Folk Festival on Sunday, August 1

Ensemble of Festival Performers Expected to Join Legendary Drummer

NEWPORT, RI, July 19, 2010 – Friday, July 30, will kick off one of the most anticipated weekends of the year in Newport, RI as thousands gather for three days of the best music and impromptu collaborations they’ve ever seen. Time will go by quickly at Fort Adams State Park as musicians take to the various stages to delight the gathered crowds before making way for, or perhaps joining, the next artist.

But, as has become a tradition at George Wein’s Newport Folk Festival (July 30 – August 1), attendees and musicians alike can take weekend-long solace in the fact that, until the last note is played, the best has yet to come at the 51-year cultural institution. And Levon Helm, an American institution in his own right, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Helm saw the birth of rock and roll and, through the years, though modest, he’s played no small part in keeping it alive. Some of Helm’s moments with The Band, Bob Dylan, and others are among the most influential and iconic ideas and memories from 20^th century music.

Many of Helm’s greatest contributions, well-known and otherwise, spawned from the renowned barn that Helm built and made his long-time home and recording studio in the equally legendary Woodstock, NY. In the 60s, Helm, the rest of The Band, Dylan, and many more began the first stages of genre-bending that would churn out brilliant collaborations and albums for a decade plus – many of which were inspired by Helm’s story-telling abilities and, of course, skilled drumming.

If the walls of the upstate New York barn could talk, they would tell you about the Grammy-award winning albums he’s contributed to there, the myriad musical legends that have come by, and would ultimately wind up going on for days about one of music’s best-kept yet well-known traditions – the Helm-conceived Midnight Ramble Sessions.

Helm’s Rambles are truly something you have to experience for yourself. Young and old bring food and drink to share with strangers who will soon become new friends. The barn’s intimacy, hospitality, and warmth is the setting for the most heartfelt musical memories, as Levon invites them in to his home to sit awhile and enjoy.

A testament to his long-lasting impact and vision, the first Ramble was held when Levon was 64 years young. Helm has invited friends old and new to his Woodstock barn, including a handful of Newport Folk artists past and present such as John Prine, Dr. John, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, and The Swell Season (who are scheduled to take the main stage at this year’s festival just before Helm’s band).

And, as the sun begins to set over Newport Harbor on Sunday evening, Helm will take the stage to create the on-the-road version of his beloved Ramble. As he has done for over five decades, Helm will take his drummer’s stool – the seat he describes as the best in the house – for over an hour of pure Americana.

He’ll lead the band through fan favorite originals, time-honored traditional folk songs, and spirited covers. But, it wouldn’t be the last set of Newport Folk without some surprises. The musicians who have stuck around Newport to marvel at the weekend’s one-of-a-kind experience will inevitably begin to join Helm on stage, as performers and audience alike share in the greatest, and final, collaborative delight of the three-day hootenanny.

After kicking off with Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers, Tim O’Brien and Sarah Jarosz on July 30 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino, the 2010 Newport Folk Festival continues July 31 and August 1 at Fort Adams State Park. Tickets and more information are available at www.newportfolkfest.net.

Wein has, since 1959, found Newport a scenic and hospitable venue for presenting the very best of this country’s blues, roots, gospel, country, bluegrass, Cajun and traditional folk music. Last year’s 50^th anniversary edition paid tribute to the great performers who wrote the proud history of this festival, notably co-founder Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Arlo Guthrie and Mavis Staples.

George Wein’s New Festival Productions continues to build on the festival’s historic past by featuring emerging young artists alongside some of folk music’s most venerable names. This year’s festival features Levon Helm’s Ramble on the Road, John Prine, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, The Swell Season, Andrew Bird, The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Doc Watson & David Holt, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Calexico, Blitzen Trapper, Richie Havens, Sam Bush, The Low Anthem, Tim O’Brien, The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, Tao Seeger Band, A.A. Bondy, The Punch Brothers with Chris Thile, Dawes, Nneka, Horse Feathers, Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three, Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore, Sarah Jarosz, Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons, O’Death, What Cheer? Brigade, April Smith & the Great Picture Show and Liz Longley.

TICKETS & OTHER INFORMATION

All tickets are available in Newport at the festival office at Empire Tea & Coffee, 22 Broadway (Tuesdays and Fridays Noon – 4:00 pm, Thursdays 2:00 – 7:00 pm and Saturdays 10:00 am – 1:00 pm); general admission tickets for Fort Adams State Park concerts also are available at the Newport Visitor Information Center, 23 America’s Cup Avenue. Festival tickets are available on-line at www.ticketmaster.com or by telephone at (800) 745-3000; service charges apply.  For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055. For complete festival information, log on to www.newportfolkfest.net.

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Artists Subject to change

Newport Folk Festival® is a registered service mark of George Wein and Festival Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.

THIS JUST IN: Dave Brubeck Celebrates 90^th Birthday

As Special Guest with Wynton Marsalis Quintet

at CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 8

NEWPORT, RI, July 14, 2010 – Dave Brubeck has been thrilling fans in Newport for more than half his life, and George Wein is proud to announce that the legendary pianist is returning to the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival to celebrate his 90^th birthday as a special guest with his friend Wynton Marsalis on Sunday, August 8.

Making a unique appearance with the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, Brubeck comes to Newport fresh from a performance at the Litchfield Jazz Festival, where the festival’s 15^th anniversary is dedicated in his honor.

“I am pleased to welcome Dave back to Newport once again. He performed at the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, at our 50^th anniversary in 2004, last year when CareFusion took over sponsorship and many years in between,” said Wein. “The atmosphere of love that Dave Brubeck generates completely fills the beautiful harbor, and like last year’s festival surprise when Dave played a tune with Tony Bennett, a memorable piece of musical history will be made.”

Dave Brubeck, designated a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, continues to be one of the most active and popular musicians in both the jazz and classical worlds. With a career that spans over six decades, his experiments in odd time signatures, improvised counterpoint, polyrhythm and polytonality remain hallmarks of innovation.  He celebrates his 90^th birthday on December 6, 2010.

Sponsored by CareFusion, a leading medical device company, and produced by George Wein’s New Festival Productions, LLC, the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival takes over Newport, RI, August 6 – 8 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino and Fort Adams State Park.  In addition to Wynton Marsalis with special guest Dave Brubeck, the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival also features Herbie Hancock; Chick Corea Freedom Band with Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride & Roy Haynes; Ahmad Jamal, Chris Botti; Jamie Cullum; Maria Schneider Orchestra; Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra; and many more.

TICKETS & OTHER INFORMATION

All tickets for the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival are available on-line, by phone and at the Festival office at 22 Broadway in Newport Tuesdays and Fridays Noon – 4:00 pm, Thursdays 2:00 – 7:00 pm, and Saturdays 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

General admission tickets (single-day passes only) also can be purchased in person at the Newport Visitor Information Center, located at 23 America’s Cup Avenue.  Festival tickets are available on-line at www.ticketmaster.com or by telephone at 1-800-745-3000. Service charges apply.

For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055.   For more information, log on to www.newportjazzfest.net.

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Newport Jazz Festival® is a registered service mark of George Wein and Festival Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.

George Wein’s Newport Folk Festival

and CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival

Partner with Newport Hotels for Special Promotions

NEWPORT, RI – George Wein’s Newport Folk Festival (July 30 – August 1) and the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival (August 6 – 8) are partnering with some of Newport’s finest hotels to offer special room and ticket promotions. The Preferred Festival Hotels are Hotel Viking, Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina, Newport Marriott and Hyatt Regency Newport.

Hotel Viking, a Newport classic located near Touro Park, the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the historic Redwood Library, features the award-winning One Bellevue Restaurant and a soothing Spa.   Hotel Viking’s Folk Festival package includes two nights of accommodations and two festival tickets for Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, August 1, events at Fort Adams State Park. The Jazz Festival package includes an overnight guest room, complimentary breakfast buffet for two, valet parking and two festival tickets for either August 7 or 8 at Fort Adams. For more information, visit www.hotelviking.com or call (800) 556-7126 for reservations.

Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina is dramatically situated right on the waterfront, with the famous shops, restaurants and bars of Thames Street just outside the front door. The Folk Festival package includes one night stay on Sunday, August 1, and two tickets to Sunday’s concerts at Fort Adams State Park. The Jazz Festival package includes an overnight stay on Sunday, August 8, and two tickets to the day’s events at Fort Adams. The Folk and Jazz Festival packages include two roundtrip tickets from the Hotel to Fort Adams aboard Old Port Marine’s Newport Harbor Shuttle.  For more information, log on to www.thenewport-hotel.com or call (800) 955-2558 for reservations.

Newport Marriott is conveniently located on America’s Cup Avenue – the gateway to Newport – and looks out at picturesque fleets of sailboats and fishing vessels. A Ferry to the Festival site is a quick walk away.   For more information, visit www.Marriott.com/Newport or call (401) 849-1000.

Hyatt Regency Newport sits on romantic Goat Island, in Newport’s historic harbor amid yachts, sloops, and brigs, lit by spectacular sunrise and sunset.  A short stroll or shuttle bus ride carries guests into the heart of the downtown. For additional information, call (401) 851-1234 or visit www.newport.hyatt.com.

Hotel Festival Packages are limited. For full details, contact Preferred Hotel Partners soon.

For tickets and more information on the festivals, visit www.newportfolkfest.net and www.newportjazzfest.net. Tickets are available at the Festival Office located at Empire Tea & Coffee, 22 Broadway in Newport, Tuesdays and Fridays, Noon – 4:00 pm; Thursdays, 2:00 – 7:00 pm; and Saturdays, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Tickets are also available at www.ticketmaster.com or by telephone at (800) 745-3000. Service charges apply.

For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055.

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Newport Folk Festival® and Newport Jazz Festival® are registered service marks of George Wein and Festival Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.

Enjoy A Handful of Keys at CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival*

Writer Eugene Holley, Jr. gives his take on five pianists

performing at CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival

NEWPORT, RI – With the all-world pianistic talent that is assembled at an event as great and grand as the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival, at its most basic element, it’s like a rent party on a massive scale. Yes, rent party: those legendary piano cutting sessions that sprang up in Harlem during its illustrious Renaissance, where ivory ticklers would try to outdo each other. Although the assembled masters of the 88 keys don’t have to go at each other like they did back in the day, nevertheless the festival venue offers the same kind of excitement and opportunity to hear the world’s greatest pianists take a turn on the ivories.

Sponsored by CareFusion, a leading medical device company, and produced by George Wein’s New Festival Productions, LLC, the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival takes over Newport, RI, August 6 – 8 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport Casino and Fort Adams State Park.

Simply put, Ahmad Jamal is one of the greatest living pianists on the planet – period! A Pittsburgh-born child prodigy, equally educated in Bach, Erroll Garner and Art Tatum, Jamal found fame in Chicago with his trademarked brand of trio-based “syncopated silence.” He captured his historic hit 1958 LP, But Not for Me: Ahmad Jamal Live at the Pershing, with his classic trio consisting of bassist Israel Crosby and New Orleans drummer Vernal Fournier, and was a major influence on pianists and non-pianists including Miles Davis – who recorded an orchestral version of Jamal’s “New Rhumba” with Gil Evans. Still going strong at 80, Jamal continues to redefine and refine his immortal pianistic genius with the release of his latest CD, A Quiet Time, a quintessential, Jamalesque assemblage of show tunes, original compositions and jazz standards like Randy Weston’s “High Fly,” that proves that this piano wunderkind is still at the top of his game. Ahmad Jamal performs on the Fort Stage on Saturday, August 7.

Another Chicagoan, Herbie Hancock also has been at the top of his game ever since he was discovered by Donald Byrd in 1959 and was an integral member of Miles Davis’ legendary 60s group, while composing and recording modern day jazz standards “Watermelon Man” and “Maiden Voyage” for Blue Note records during that period. In the 70s, he ushered in a new era of jazz/funk/fusion with the smash LP, Headhunters, and a decade later, his MTV-friendly “Rockit” blazed a trail where jazz and hip-hop could both travel. And, from the 90s to now, Hancock has put his soulful stamp on electronica, pop, world music, George Gershwin, and astonished everyone in 2008 by winning the Grammy for Album of the Year for The Joni Letters, his beautiful tribute to Joni Mitchell. This year, Hancock celebrates his 70^th circle around the sun, with his new CD, The Imagine Project; featuring collaborations recorded around the world, including British guitarist Jeff Beck, Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and his daughter, Anoushka, rocker Dave Matthews in San Francisco, and Oumou Sangaré in Mali. At this stage of his life, it is only fitting that this kind of global project can fully engage Hancock’s ever-evolving genius. Herbie Hancock performs on the Fort Stage on Sunday, August 8.

Born just one year before Hancock in 1941, Chick Corea has been his fellow traveler (as evidenced by their intimate and engaging duet recording). Corea also played with Miles Davis in the 60s, and was one of fusion’s fathers, as the co-founder of Return to Forever, and he penned a number of jazz standards, including “Spain,” “Matrix,” and “Light as a Feather.” After decades of playing every genre – from the classics to solo piano – 2010 marks a banner year for Corea. A short documentary on him, directed by producer Bob Belden debuted in January. And in the summer, Corea tours with The Freedom Band, featuring bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and 85-year old drummer Roy Haynes, who also reunites with bassist Miroslav Vitous and Corea, as they revisit their 1968 landmark trio recording Now He Sings, Now he Sobs. No doubt Corea and his fountain of youth triad will let everybody know that their telepathic trio music still dances and trances after all of these years.  Chick Corea Freedom Band performs on the Fort Stage on Saturday, August 7.

Corea, like Jamal and Hancock, has influenced numerous pianists around the world, as evidenced by the beautiful and talented Azerbaijan-born, Rotterdam-based composer-pianist-bandleader Amina Figarova. Her newly-released CD, Sketches, is an  invigorating and affectionate collection of original compositions written in the mode of the classic Blue Note recordings of Corea, Hancock, Wayne Shorter, et al, and includes a selection inspired by the New Orleans Katrina tragedy.  Born in 1966, Figarova was a student of the piano at an early age; she studied at Baku University, the Rotterdam Conservatory and Berklee College of Music. She made her recording debut with the group Attraction in 1994, and was accepted four years later into the Thelonious Monk Jazz Colony in Aspen, Colorado. With her husband multi-flutist Bart Platteau, Figarova leads a sextet reminiscent of Herbie Hancock’s late 60s recordings, The Prisoner and Speak Like a Child. Howard Mandel, jazz writer and president of the Jazz Journalist Association, wrote that Figarova’s “measured, graceful, touching pianism and coolly-controlled ensemble writing demonstrate commitment and ease with a jazz idiom,” as we will hear when she makes her impressive Newport debut on the Fort Stage on Sunday, August 8.

It should come as no surprise that only George Wein could assemble this staggering array of keyboardists. Being an exceptional pianist himself, from his Boston days, where he heard and emulated the great piano greats Teddy Wilson and Earl Hines, and in his early incarnation as the owner of the fabled Boston club, Storyville. “I don’t know whether I wanted to be a musician, but I always was a musician; it’s one of those things,” Wein said in a 2004 interview on allaboutjazz.com. “During high school and then while I was in the Army I played the piano and it helped me a lot. And when I went to college I played, sometimes seven nights and then Sunday afternoon while I was studying. You know, I was working with Max Kaminsky and Pee Wee Russell. I was working full time quite a bit of the time while I was in college.” No dilettante on the keys, Wein can trade with the best of them (check out his 1955 recording, Wein Women and Song – one of his 11 recordings as a leader. With all of the best pianists appearing in the foreground, don’t miss this youthful octogenarian in control of the keys with his Newport All-Stars featuring Howard Alden, Randy Brecker, Randy Sandke and special guest Bob Brookmeyer on the Harbor Stage on Saturday, August 7.  And, don’t be surprised if you catch him sitting in an impromptu jam session or a special solo, showing everybody how it’s done, on the one!

There’s plenty of piano magic scheduled to the hit the stages, including Jamie Cullum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Friday, August 6, Jason Moran and Matthew Shipp on Sunday, August 8, plus many others.

TICKETS & OTHER INFORMATION

All tickets for the CareFusion Newport Jazz Festival are available on-line, by phone, by mail and at the Festival office at 22 Broadway in Newport Tuesdays Noon – 4:00 pm, Thursdays 2:00 – 7:00 pm, Fridays Noon – 4:00 pm and Saturdays 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.  Stop by the Festival office to find out about special discount ticket offers, which are available for a limited time only.

General admission tickets (single-day passes only) also can be purchased in person at the Newport Visitor Information Center, located at 23 America’s Cup Avenue.

Festival tickets are available on-line at www.ticketmaster.com or by telephone at 1-800-745-3000. Service charges apply.

For general information, craft vendor information or to leave a message for festival staff, call the festival hotline at (401) 848-5055.   For more information, log on to www.newportjazzfest.net.

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Newport Jazz Festival ® is a registered service mark of George Wein and Festival Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.