John Coltrane, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis 1965 Newport Jazz Festival Concert Poster....

Description

John Coltrane, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis 1965 Newport Jazz Festival Concert Poster. An original cardboard advertising window card for the illustrious 1965 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island which took place on Thursday-Sunday, July 1-4, 1965. The stunning line-up of talent included (but was not limited to) John Coltrane, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Count Basie, the Oscar Peterson Trio, Herbie Mann, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, Buddy Rich, the MJQ, Joe Williams, Art Blakey and Carmen McRae. This poster was made on very thick board, measures 13 3/4" x 21 3/4" and grades to Very Good condition. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: Folk legend Pete Seeger's presence on this poster may seem out-of-place, but Pete had deep ties to all things Newport and promoter George Wein due to the Newport Folk Festival. He was part of the first day's "The Family of Jazz" presentation, which skirted around the jazz genre with like-minded music. The evening included a duet between jump-blues pianist Memphis Slim and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Willie Dixon, neither mentioned on the poster. But how's this for a wallop: neither is Muddy Waters, who played a set with Otis Spann, James Cotton and Little Bo. Also, Dizzy Gillespie and James Moody sat in on Muddy's set. Others also appearing and not on the poster included legendary pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines and guitarist Wes Montgomery.

The Sinatra appearance was a really big deal, with Frank arriving by helicopter with arranger Quincy Jones in tow. He performed 18 songs in an uptempo hour-long set, opening with "Get Me to the Church on Time" from My Fair Lady, and then worked his way through "Fly Me to the Moon," "Luck Be a Lady," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "Hello, Dolly!," "All the Way" and others, and closing with "My Kind of Town."

This year's Newport Jazz Festival was so big, and so top-heavy with talent, that the organizers realized it couldn't be held at the traditional Freebody Park anymore. So it was moved to a new site with ample room, which was given the moniker Festival Field, as mentioned in the lower right area of the poster. And sure enough, Sinatra's closing night set was the most-attended event in Newport Jazz Festival history at the time.

Condition details: The board once had a significant, wide crease from top to bottom, going through the "N" in "Newport" down through the "F" in the "NJF" logo and to the bottom edge. Even the terminology "crease" is just a guess; it's hard to determine the origin of this vertical imperfection which is about 1 ½" wide. It doesn't show too much on the front, mostly in the top half, but is quite apparent on the verso, and may have even been the subject of repair.

Both sides of the window card have light-brown spotted foxing, more prominent on the verso. A 3 1/2" surface crease on the left intersects the "D" in "Dizzy," the "T" in "Thelonious" and then "Williams" and "Carmen." Another six-inch surface crease can be found in the black & yellow of the saxophone in the bottom part. There's also a four-inch surface crease coming in from the left edge, going just under the mouthpiece (but not touching the black). All four corners are bumped, rounded and lightly creased.

The verso has significant light-brown foxing and water staining, and a big tape lift at the top.


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