Newport Jazz Festival

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The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every August in Newport, Rhode Island. It was established in 1954 by the jazz impresario George Wein.

Two of the most famous performances in the festival's history include Miles Davis's 1955 solo on "'Round Midnight" and the Duke Ellington Orchestra's lengthy 1956 performance of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue". Miles & Monk at Newport documented respective 1958 and 1963 appearances at the festival. Noteworthy soloists aside from the bandleaders were John Coltrane and Pee Wee Russell.

A Muddy Waters performance at the 1960 festival (released as the album At Newport 1960) is widely regarded as his best recorded work.

Most of the festivals were broadcast on VOA radio and many performances were recorded and have been issued by various record labels.

The festival was originally held at the Bellevue Avenue estate of Louis and Elaine Lorillard, Belcourt, now called Belcourt Castle and owned by the Tinney Family.

The film Jazz on a Summer's Day documented the 1958 festival.

In 1960, boisterous fans carried away with the music created a major disturbance, and the National Guard was called to the scene. Despite the difficulties of 1960, the festival resumed in Newport in 1961. Featured performers included Nate "Cannonball" Adderley and David Brubeck who, to the delight of a very damp audience, played "Pennies from Heaven" during a rain shower. The Newport Jazz Festival moved to New York City in 1971.

The Nina Simone album At Newport (1960) was recorded live on the festival in the same year.