Newport’s ‘diplomats of jazz’ talk to Washington Life about the storied festival’s 60th year.
Newport Jazz Festival 2013 (Photo by Steve Garfield via Flickr)
It was jazz great John Coltrane who once said, “When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people.”
Take three of his words — music, possibilities and good — and you get exactly what George Wein and John Hailer are all about, as far as keeping jazz alive and kicking in the 21st century.
Wein, 88, is the legendary jazz impresario who founded the groundbreaking Newport Jazz Festival that celebrates its 60th year this August. Hailer, 54, is a lifelong-jazz-fan-cum-CEO whose company Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM) has become an instrumental supporter and sponsor of the festival for the last several years. Together, these two have forged a passionate partnership and a fierce commitment to foster a love of jazz for future generations, not only in the performance setting, but also in the vitally important educational one.
Read the complete story below:
Newport Jazz Festival, August 1-3, 2014, Newport, Rhode Island. Tickets available online here.
