Newport returns to its jazz roots

Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, George Shearing, Gene Krupa, Lennie Tristano - these among many others had never played a gig like the one on the pristine grass tennis courts of the Newport Casino. "I don't mind them being seated on the courts, but I wish they wouldn't bounce up and down," said a grounds official. Between bounces some puzzled looks hinted that real jazz may have upset listeners' stereotypes.

"When you see thousands of people obviously enjoying something, and you aren't," a young man said, "it kind of makes you feel as if you're missing something." Among the enjoyers was the ambassador of Argentina, chatting about clarinet playing with Pee Wee Russell at an elegant postconcert party. Newport swung on, and two years later, wow, the landmark performance of Duke Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue," when saxophonist Paul Gonsalves blew an incredible 27 choruses.

(I'm told master drummer Jo Jones spurred the band from offstage by beating time with a rolled-up copy of The Christian Science Monitor.)

I asked what Wein would like to say before the next milestone.

"I went to the ball with a girl called Mademoiselle Jazz in 1954, and I'm taking that girl to the ball again in 2004." He means the 50th Newport will be like the first: all jazz. Plenty of innovation but none of the pop, rock, etc., that became part of various later "jazz" festivals trying to broaden their audiences. On Aug. 14 and 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., three stages will be swinging at the harborside Fort Adams State Park. Late greats such as Charlie Parker, Count Basie, and John Coltrane will be saluted but not imitated by current stars such as Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, and Roy Haynes, says Wein.

Ornette Coleman will be there. Charles Mingus lives on in the Mingus Big Band. Toshiko Akiyoshi adds a familiar international touch and Britain's Jamie Cullum adds a new one, riding in on his recording debut, "twentysomething." Evening events at other sites take place Aug. 11, 12, and 13. (See the complete schedule at www.NewportJazz50th.com)

There were no websites in 1954. But the ripples and waves from Newport say that, boy, did the word get out.

In 2002, 46 years later, George and his wife, Joyce, an African-American, were invited by his alma mater, Boston University, for a symposium on jazz and interracial marriage. Toward the end Wein noted with pleasure that most of the questions had been about jazz rather than race. It was perhaps a sign of the changes that jazz helped usher in.

Like a young woman's comment from the floor: "There seems to be something about jazz and jazz musicians that commands respect." One might say jazz pays respect too. The following year, Boston University announced a $1 million gift from the Weins to launch an endowment in African-American Studies.

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