NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) – Newport Jazz Festival founder George Wein doesn’t know if this year will mark the end of a tradition dating back to the inaugural event 60 years ago: playing with his Newport All-Stars band.
The jazz pianist-turned-impresario is scheduled to perform Sunday with the latest edition of the All-Stars on the festival’s closing day at Fort Adams Park. Its current lineup includes trumpeter Randy Brecker, Israeli clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen, saxophonist Lew Tabackin, guitarist Howard Alden, bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Clarence Penn.
“I don’t know whether this will be my last appearance because I find it very difficult,” said the 88-year-old Wein. “I always wondered what I’m going to do in my old age. I’m in my old age. … Keeping up with these younger musicians who know more about music is not easy, but I’ve had a good run.”
Wein began his career as a jazz pianist, but after hearing Art Tatum he realized he could never match that virtuosity. Instead, he found his true calling as a producer and opened his Storyville club in Boston in 1951.
But Wein never gave up being a jazz pianist. His Storyville All-Stars morphed into the Newport All-Stars when Wein created the world’s first outdoor jazz festival in the tony Rhode Island seaside resort in 1954.