Sinatra At Newport by George Wein

We continue with our fascination of Frank Sinatra’s July 4, 1965 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival by publishing the entire article that appeared in the original 1965 Newport Jazz Festival program. The article was written by the festival’s organizer and promoter, George Wein - Rick Apt

It was just about 13 years ago that I last saw Frank Sinatra. In the days when Storyville was in the old Hotel Buckminster in Kenmore Square in Boston, Sinatra was appearing at the Latin Quarter and had come between shows to see Duke Ellington, Storyville’s headliner for the week. Sinatra loved big bands.

I believe that week in Boston many years ago was very important in the life of Frank Sinatra. I don’t know the exact details, but I can remember reading an interview he gave to a Boston writer in which he said he had just been given a part in a Hollywood picture. It was a small part, but he thought it would be a good one for him. It was. The picture was “From Here to Eternity”. and it meant the beginning of an entirely new life for Frank Sinatra.

In an earlier era, I recall when I first became aware that Frank Sinatra had that magic appeal that made him the star that he has been for over 20 years. It was 1946, the war was over, and I was in New York, trying to get back in the swing of things after an army hiatus of three years. I was walking along West 44th Street. At the stage door of the Paramount Theater there was a bunch of kids. I asked them who they were waiting for. One of the kids said weakly, “Benny Goodman.” At this, the others in the group screamed almost simultaneously, “Whattaya mean, Benny Goodman? Frank Sinatra!!” This was at the beginning of his first great surge of popularity. It was nothing compared to what has happened in the last twelve years. One might be justified in saying that Frank Sinatra can lay claim to being the most popular figure in the history of show business. Admittedly, this covers a lot of territory, but it’s interesting to consider.

Why has this great personality given us the opportunity to present him at Newport? Doesn’t he realize that jazz festivals are part of the “old sentimentality?” Isn’t the “Frug” the thing today? Don’t the critics tear you apart at these “circuses” called “festivals”? What about “riots” and “immorality” and everything else blamed on “festivals”? Does Sinatra need to expose himself to these “dangers”? Of course not, but it just so happens that Frank Sinatra loves jazz music. He loves Count Basie, Dizzie Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman and so many others. Also, as a singer, he is in the company of Bing Crosby, Al Jolson and Louis Armstrong, the greatest singers of popular songs. He also likes to sing with big bands. He started with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. And Count Basie happens to be his favorite big band.

It also happens that Sinatra could best help the music he loves by singing in a jazz concept at the Newport Jazz Festival which has become the symbol of successful jazz presentation throughout the world. No nightclub performance here.

Everytime you turn around, you read that “jazz is dying.” Last year, before the successful 1964 Newport Jazz Festival, we found it necessary to make the statement, “If jazz is dying, then a lot of people are buying tickets to the funeral.” This year, can jazz be dying if Sinatra wants to sing at Newport? No, believe me, cynics, jazz is not dead or dying. It will never die as long as there are guys like Sinatra who sing jazz and love it, and as long as there are musicians who have any creative spirit whatsoever, and who refuse to let this spirit be squelched.

My life is wrapped up in jazz festivals. We go into communities all over America and present festivals. Everywhere we go we have to fight for our ideas. After 12 years in Newport, we still have to fight. Many people don’t like jazz fans. They don’t like Negroes, young people, college kids, integration, noise, beer, “sex”…They don’t like many things. But they do like Frank Sinatra! The fight everywhere is easier now.

Undoubtedly, my perspective in influenced by being so personally involved, but I feel that jazz festivals at this moment are more important to jazz than ever before. The large jazz nightclub is a thing of the past, not because of jazz, but because the nightclub business is struggling. (Incidentally, neighborhood low-budget clubs are prospering.) Record companies are producing less and less jazz. Forget TV. And the most difficult thing to find in the world is jazz on AM radio.

When a festival moves into an area, much of this changes, at least for a while. Radio stations program jazz. Local TV stations give exposure to out artists. Record companies record. Every news media becomes interested. Now, after Sinatra at Newport, jazz festivals are more important.

As a producer I have dreamed of presenting Frank Sinatra at the Festival for many years. I have always felt that when great artists have a jazz feeling in their music, they belong on jazz festivals. For instance, we always wanted to present Nat Cole at Newport. Now, unhappily, it will never happen. But what of artists like Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee? And don’t forget Bing Crosby. What a night we could have with “der Bingle”! And Ray Charles! What about Ella Fitzgerald, Erroll Garner, Nancy Wilson, and others who sometimes feel that audiences at the Americana Hotel can substitute for the people that really made them stars – the jazz fan. Yes, Frank Sinatra has opened a lot of doors for jazz festivals. Thanks, Frank.

Tagged as: Frank Sinatra, George Wein, Newport Jazz Festival