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World-renowned Pianist and NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston Dies at 92

9/1/2018

World-renowned Pianist and NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston Dies at 92

April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018

Photo credit: Chester Higgins

NEW YORK, NY, September 1, 2018 – Randy Weston, NEA Jazz Master, Doris Duke Impact Award recipient, United States Artist Fellow and Guggenheim Foundation Fellow has died. The legendary pianist transitioned peacefully at his home today, announced his wife and business partner Fatoumata Weston. He was 92.

Weston has been laying down his distinctive rhythms since his first CD, Cole Porter in a Modern Mood, in 1954 right up to The African Nubian Suite, released in 2016, and Sound in 2017. Throughout his prolific 65-year recording career, Weston drew connections between the jazz and blues that surrounded him while growing up in Brooklyn and the music of Africa, his ancestral homeland.

Newport Festivals Foundation Gala Is A Huge Success

8/28/2018

Newport Festivals Foundation 8th Annual Gala
Is A Huge Success

Funds Support the Foundation’s
Music Education Initiatives and Help to Continue the Legacy of Newport Jazz & Folk Festival

Photos by: Brian Lima

NEWPORT, RI, August 27, 2018 – More than 360 music fans from around the world turned out to celebrate the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals at Newport Festivals Foundation’s Eighth Annual Gala held at The Elms on Saturday, August 4. The dinner event, which raised more than $660,000, included performances by pianist Jon Batiste, vocalist Jazzmeia Horn and a special duo by guitarist Pat Metheny and Jazz Festival Artistic Director and bassist Christian McBride.

“Thanks to a committed board of directors who love and respect the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals as much as I do, I am confident that my legacy will live on,” said George Wein, co-founder of the festivals and Chairman of the Board of Newport Festivals Foundation, which Wein established as a non-profit in 2010. “Under the direction of Executive Producer Jay Sweet and Jazz Artistic Director Christian McBride, our dedicated team puts together two festivals that remain at the forefront of live music events.”

Still Time to Catch Jazz in the Valley, Sunday at Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie

8/15/2018

Eddie Henderson, Javon Jackson, Mimi Jones, Rene Marie and Rachiim Ausar-Sahu Headline the 18th Annual Jazz in the Valley
Sunday, August 19, in
Poughkeepsie’s Waryas Park

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, August 13, 2018 – TRANSART & Cultural Services, Inc. a West Park, NY-based, non-profit arts organization dedicated to promoting awareness of the art, history and popular culture of people of African descent, presents Jazz in the Valley (JITV) on Sunday, August 19, 2018, from noon to 6:00 pm (gates open at 11:00 am). JITV, now in its 18th year, brings an eclectic array of world-class jazz musicians, performing on two stages to bucolic, nine-acre Waryas Park, nestled in downtown Poughkeepsie, in New York’s historic Hudson River Valley, just 90 miles north of New York City.

“TRANSART takes great pride in bringing some of the world’s greatest jazz artists to perform in the beautiful Hudson Valley,” says Greer Smith, festival producer and president of TRANSART. “Waryas Park is an excellent place to enjoy jazz with family and friends, and we’re pleased to present the 2018 edition of JITV, which features five ensembles that play the full inventions and dimensions of jazz.”

Singers Make Their Mark At Newport Jazz Festival

7/18/2018

Singers Make Their Mark At Newport Jazz Festival

Gregory Porter, José James, Jazzmeia Horn, Charenée Wade, Andra Day, Alicia Olatuja Tell Stories Through Song August 3 - 5

Newport, RI , July 17, 2018 – For the past six decades, the Newport Jazz Festival has been the premier showcase for jazz’s most supremely loved vocalists, from Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, to Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. And, this year’s edition of the festival continues in that hallowed tradition.

Whether he’s channeling the message music of Gil Scott-Heron or Joe Williams’ upsouth urbanity, the two-time, Grammy Award-winning Gregory Porter’s emergence on the scene in the last decade confirms that he is one of the coolest and most compelling vocalists of his generation. In a Marvin Gaye minute, this California-born crooner can deliver a lyric that spans from the profound question “What’s Goin’ On” to the provocative proclamation “Let’s Get it On.” And, when Porter takes to the Fort Adams stage on Sunday, August 5, he’ll give the audience more of that sweet sound heard on his 2017 Nat King Cole tribute CD, sonically shaped by Porter’s silken, syncopated soul and vivid vocals.

George Clinton Brings the Funk to Newport

7/11/2018

George Clinton Brings the Funk to
Newport Jazz Festival
on Sunday, August 5

Newport, RI, July 11 – On Sunday, August 5, a Mothership commander will land on the Fort Adams stage when the 76-year old vocalist, songwriter, producer, bandleader, icon and Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame Inductee George Clinton and his supergroup, the Grammy Award winning Parliament Funkadelic, perform for the first time at the Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Investment Managers. In support of his latest CD, Medicaid Fraud Dogg, and part of a landmark, worldwide tour that will end with his retirement from touring in 2019, Clinton is sure to bring the funk and more to Narragansett Bay.

Sophisticated Ladies Take the Stage at Newport Jazz Festival

7/5/2018

Sophisticated Ladies Take the Stage at
2018 Newport Jazz Festival

Newport, RI July 5, 2018 – For six decades, the Newport Jazz Festival has showcased the music of the most important female musicians in the art form – from Mary Lou Williams and Toshiko Akiyoshi, to Carla Bley and the late Geri Allen. And this edition of the festival offers a powerful potpourri of sophisticated ladies, who, while maintaining the base from where the jazz tradition comes, take the music into new and complex directions.

Newport Festivals Foundation Supports Girls Rock! RI Band Booster Program

7/5/2018

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. Makes Donation to Girls Rock! RI to Create a Band Booster Program to Prepare Students for Performances

Girls Rock! RI to Perform at Bridgefest on
August 1, 6:00 pm

NEWPORT, RI, July2, 2018 – Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. is proud to provide financial support to create the Band Booster program, a new initiative for Girls Rock! RI, whose mission is to use music creation and critical thinking to foster empowerment, collaborative relationships and the development of healthy identities in girls, women, trans and gender non-conforming individuals.

The Band Booster program will give young, female musicians from Providence the support of band coaches to help prepare them for live performances. Coaches also will work with bands on instrument instruction, songwriting, band dynamics, booking and promotion.

Joyce & George Wein Foundation Presents Scholarships to 45 Students to Attend Workshop in Newport

6/28/2018

Scholarships Presented to 45 Students to Attend the Berklee Global Jazz Workshop
at the Newport Jazz Festival

BOSTON, June 27, 2018 – Students from across the world will be mentored this summer at the site of one of the world’s most legendary jazz festivals. The Berklee Global Jazz Workshop at the Newport Jazz Festival gives young vocalists and instrumentalists a five-day intensive jazz program taught by world-renowned faculty under the artistic direction of Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Danilo Pérez and Managing Director Marco Pignataro. The program, being held July 30 - August 3 at Salve Regina University, features master classes by musicians appearing at the festival, ensemble rehearsals, and final performances on the Newport Jazz Festival stage.

Participants will attend the workshop on full scholarships provided by the Newport Festivals Foundation and the Joyce and George Wein Foundation. Additional support comes from the Mary Hailer Scholarship Fund established by John and Maureen Hailer. This generosity makes it possible for 45 students from more than 10 countries, including Panama, Chile, South Africa, Israel, Argentina, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Australia, to be mentored by some of the world’s most accomplished jazz musicians. The total value of the scholarships awarded for 2018 is $70,000. Established in 2016, more than 150 students have participated in the workshop, receiving a total of $210,000 in scholarships.

Newport Jazz Festival Local Discount Tickets Ending Soon; Local Office to Open July 5

6/28/2018

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.’s
Local Ticket Office Opens July 5

NEWPORT, RI, June 28, 2018 – Time is running out to take advantage of the local discount for tickets to the Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Investment Managers, so head to the Newport Visitors Information Center, 23 America’s Cup Avenue, by Wednesday, July 4.

Discount tickets are just $50 for General Admission to the concerts at Fort Adams State Park on Friday, August 3, and $60 on Saturday, August 4, and Sunday, August 5. This special discount for local residents and visitors to Newport is not available on-line.

Newport Festivals Foundation Announces 2018 Bridgefest Schedule

6/26/2018

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.
Announces 2018 Bridgefest® Schedule
featuring 19 Events at 14 Venues over 4 Days
Throughout Newport County July 30-August 2

NEWPORT, RI, June 26, 2018 – Bridgefest®, the annual celebration of Jazz, Folk and Newport's rich musical community, returns to Newport July 30 - August 2 featuring local artists performing at 19 events at 14 venues over four days. Produced by Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc., Bridgefest bridges the gap between the iconic Newport Folk Festival® (July 27-29) and Newport Jazz Festival® (August 3-5).

The 2018 schedule includes:

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World-renowned Pianist and NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston Dies at 92 April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018​

Newport Festivals Foundation 8th Annual GalaIs A Huge Success Funds Support the Foundation’sMusic Education Initiatives and Help to Continue the Legacy of Newport Jazz & Folk Festival​

Eddie Henderson, Javon Jackson, Mimi Jones, Rene Marie and Rachiim Ausar-Sahu Headline the 18th Annual Jazz in the Valley Sunday, August 19, in​Poughkeepsie’s Waryas Park​

Singers Make Their Mark At Newport Jazz Festival Gregory Porter, José James, Jazzmeia Horn, Charenée Wade, Andra Day, Alicia Olatuja Tell Stories Through Song August 3 - 5

George Clinton Brings the Funk to ​Newport Jazz Festival on Sunday, August 5

Sophisticated Ladies Take the Stage at ​2018 Newport Jazz Festival

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. Makes Donation to Girls Rock! RI to Create a Band Booster Program to Prepare Students for Performances Girls Rock! RI to Perform at Bridgefest on ​August 1, 6:00 pm

Scholarships Presented to 45 Students to Attend the Berklee Global Jazz Workshopat the Newport Jazz Festival

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc.’sLocal Ticket Office Opens July 5

Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. Announces 2018 Bridgefest® Schedule featuring 19 Events at 14 Venues over 4 Days Throughout Newport County July 30-August 2

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