Newport 1961: Judy Garland meets John Coltrane
"Music At Newport"
Sid Bernstein (1918-2013) was not a hard guy to meet - it seemed like he was omnipresent in New York during most of the 20th century. Anybody who knew Sid, at least in the latter part of his life, will recall that he essentially told them two things. 1. That you should buy his book. 2. That he discovered the Beatles. And 3. That you should buy his book. (Okay, make that three things, sort of.)
Sid had produced the Beatles’ first concert in New York - which occurred at Carnegie on February 12 three days after their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show - and for the rest of his life, he would regard it as his crowning achievement. (Like most rock “concerts” in the early days, this was a package show with a number of bands, including The Briarwoods; there were two performances, and the Beatles only played for 35 minutes at each.)
All the times I met Sid, he rarely wanted to talk about anything else, and he also tended to inflate his own importance as far as this one singular event was concerned - rarely even mentioning that other guys - like Brian Epstein and even Ed Sullivan - were involved in bringing the Fab Four to America. But Sid was a man of wide- ranging accomplishments that had nothing to do with the Beatles - like bringing Judy Garland to the Newport Jazz Festival.
Well, sort of. There was no actual “Newport Jazz Festival” in 1961. The previous year had seen what we now describe as the first Newport Riot. Essentially the Festival was a victim of its own success: each year more and more people showed up, and the performances were all sold out. Thousands of college kids descended on the small city, - many of them already tanked by the time they arrived - and when they weren’t able to get into the festival, they began wandering the streets, causing a ruckus. Halfway through Saturday, July 2, crowds were getting out of control, and everything scheduled for the next two days—Sunday, July 3, and Monday the fourth—was canceled. (That included an all-star group from Nashville, featuring Chet Atkins, Hank Garland, Boots Randolph, Floyd Cramer, and the very young vibes virtuoso Gary Burton, who went ahead and recorded their own album anyhow, titled After The Riot At Newport.)
George Wein, the visionary impresario who conceived of the original NJF in 1954, was now officially excommunicated; the Newport Jazz Festival was no more. In July of 1960, everyone thought this would be forever, but by Spring of 1961, the city had experience a chance of heart. Starting around March or April, Sid and his partner John Drew were in negotiations with the city for a big event that would occupy the same spot on the calendar where Wein had produced the Newport Jazz Festival for its first seven years.
Titled Music at Newport, it was essentially the same idea as Wein’s festival: there would be four nights of jazz headliners - approximately seven bands per evening - playing roughly 25-30 minutes each, starting at 9:00 pm and going until after midnight. Starting in April and May, there would be a steady series of updates in the trade publications, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and others. The main concern wasn’t whether or not the event would draw a crowd or make money, but that said crowd could be controlled. One such story asserted in the headline, “Newport Fest Police Budget Rivalling Outlay for Talent, Promoter Asserts.” (Variety, April 26, 1961)
At this point, Sid was looking for well-known celebrity jazz fans to host portions of the event, dropping the names of Leonard Bernstein (no relation), Steve Allen, Dave Garroway, and Garry Moore - none of whom actually appeared, as far as I can tell. The budget kept ballooning, eventually to $185,000, which I believe is well more than Wein had ever spent. But as of June, it looked like everything was set.
In addition to the four evening jazz concerts, there were two additional events at 4:30 in the afternoon: Bob Hope, announced for Saturday, July 1, and Judy Garland, on Monday, July 3. As Sid explained shortly afterwards (Variety, July 26, 1961): “After the riot in 1960, the ultra conservative residents were against all festivals. We added Judy and Bob Hope to the program to broaden its appeal and the injunction proceedings were killed.” (PS: the top ticket price to see any of these concerts - including the ones by Hope and Garland - was all of $4.50 in 1961 dollars.)
Whereas earlier years of the Wein festival - especially 1959 - were very well documented by various record labels and the Voice of America, there are only scattershot recordings from the 1961 Music at Newport festival. Also unlike several earlier years, there is no video footage of any of the performances. What follows is a brief sampler of memorable performances that have turned up; essentially, we have two sets from the first night on Friday, June 30, then one each from the remaining three nights.
If the order listed on the handbill is to be believed, Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were first up on the evening of Friday June 30th - a helluva way to open a festival or concert. I’m not sure who actually made these recordings or who owns them today - I dimly remember hearing a few of them at the BMG offices 25 years ago - but somehow these are among the finest, audio-quality-wise, ever made by the All-Stars, and the performances are equally superb. These tracks have yet to be issued, unfortunately, but special thanks to Ricky Riccardi, “The Caro of Satchmo,” for allowing me to share a track with Slouching Towards Birdlanders. Here’s a singularly lovely performance of “That’s My Home,” which Pops had first recorded with his big band in 1932:
From later that same evening, we also have the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Gene Wright, and drummer Joe Morello. By this point, Brubeck was known primarily for playing original compositions in nutso time signatures - he was well into the Time Out series of albums for Columbia. Therefore, it’s especially rewarding to hear him play a jazz standard in a swinging 4/4. Here’s “Pennies From Heaven” :
As we’ve seen, Saturday, July 1 had been set aside as “An Afternoon with Bob Hope,” but the veteran superstar comic canceled at some point prior and instead there was a special jazz matinee featuring younger singers and new-ish bands. Variety was impressed by the combo led by two Basie-ites, trombonist Al Grey and tenor saxophonist Billy Mitchell, and another by trumpeter Don Ellis. There also were a number of younger singers, among them Jackie Paris, Mark Murphy, and Bob Dorough. The one who attracted most of the accolades, however, was “24-year-old Providence girl” Carol Sloane, who made her initial breakthrough at this last-minute concert, as Dan Morgenstern and others remembered for many years to come. (I knew all four of those singers in later years and never thought to ask any of them about this event.)
The Saturday evening show proceeded as planned, and the major set that has survived and been released is that of John Coltrane, leading a variation on his own classic quartet, with regulars pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, but instead of Jimmy Garrison there are two other bassists, Art Davis and Reggie Workman. Coltrane’s 29 minutes are also beautifully recorded and include three of his foundation tunes, “Impressions,” “Naima,” and “My Favorite Things,” as well as a spoken announcement that I would like to believe is by Sid himself.
Coltrane Intro & Impressions
“Naima”
“My Favorite Things”
From Sunday, July 2, the major set that has survived is that of the Stan Getz Quartet with pianist Steve Kuhn, drummer Roy Haynes, and short-lived bass virtuoso Scott Lafaro. Getz also played three numbers, among them one show tune, “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads” (from Kismet) and one jazz standard, Sonny Rollins’s “Airegin.” He also announces “Where Do You Go,” an especially dirge-y Alec Wilder song recorded by Sinatra, but instead he plays “Wildwood” by Gigi Gryce. (I don’t know if Getz somehow confused the two songs or was just being perverse.)
The most readily-heard concert from Newport 1961 is that by the young arranger - composer - bandleader and future producer - superstar - mogul Quincy Jones. This was the American edition of the famous orchestra he’d led in Europe, famously touring the year previously in support of Nat King Cole. As far as I can tell, this is the only performance from Newport 1961 that was issued legitimately and more or less relatively quickly - it was in the stores before 1961 was over. It would also be one of Q’s most celebrated jazz performances and justly so: (Unlike the other surviving sets from Newport 1961, this is fully 40 minutes.)
Unfortunately, no trace of the Judy Garland set has ever turned up. She sang before a crowd of 4000 - larger than the Carnegie Hall triumph of a few months earlier - and the only person I know who attended that performance - and still remembers it vividly (wouldn’t you?) - is the legendary jazz scholar / historian / chronicler Dan Morgenstern, who turns 95 at the end of this year, bless him.
Dan Morgenstern:
I also have been hoping that this unique Garland performance would suddenly reappear but it’s alas less and less likely. Unique because, aware she was appearing at a jazz festival, she had asked Toots Mondello, a trusted studio pro, to put together a small (think octet) group to back her in a set of standards with jazz association. Attendant critics had been grumbling about what she was doing at a jazz event but we were all most pleasantly surprised (I wasn’t a grumbler but looking forward to seeing her live) and so was the audience. I wrote about it but can’t remember what I said; Carol Sloane made her big-time debut at this festival.
Mike Fitzgerald has retrieved Dan’s comments from Metronome, November 1961:
"There was Judy Garland. She is certainly not a jazz singer, but in terms of reaching an audience, doing real work, and giving of herself she could teach many jazz artists, particularly of the more recent crop, a profound lesson. Her band, by the way, included a considerable number of jazzmen, among them Toots Mondello, Boomie Richman, Arnold Fishkin, Howard Collins, Jimmy Maxwell, Tommy Mitchell, and Chauncey Welsh." [Mike adds: Perhaps there were numbers with just an octet, drawn from the orchestra.]
Above: images of Judy Garland at Newport July 3, 1961 - courtesy Lawrence Schulman - Looking carefully, it seems like she only wore two distinct outfits, one in each “act,” including the famous jacket that she wore at her legendary Carnegie Hall Concert on April 23. (That jacket is currently in the Carnegie Hall archives.)
After the festival, Variety gave the entire event a thumbs up, noting its success in three key areas: First, the music was not disappointing. Second, there were none of the disturbances that had marred the 1960 event: Said Variety, “Regiment of cops squelch punks.” Third, a huge crowd showed up; “varied program draws solid gate.” The main reservation from reviewer David B. Bittan was, “with the on-again, off-again preparations, producers Sid Bernstein and John Drew were unable to do as effective a job of setting up the music as they might have. Despite the $185,000 budget for talent, the festival couldn’t be considered a complete success because of the hurry-on, hurry-off method of presentation.”
A few weeks afterwards, Sid announced that he was going to produce other jazz festivals, including one in Harlem in October, but they never materialized. Sid did extend his association with Judy Garland, booking her for several additional concerts, including one at the Atlantic City Convention Center, a month after Newport on Friday, August 4.
In his autobiography, George Wein talked about hearing a news story on the radio about the Bernstein Festival a few months afterwards. According to this intel, the 1961 event lost $60,000. George never held a grudge against Sid, and quotes him as saying, “No, I’m not going back next year. The only one who really knows how to handle what goes on up there is George Wein.”
Special Thanks to Rob Waldman for helping me research this story.
Very Special thanks to the fabulous Ms. Elizabeth Zimmer, for expert proofreading of this page, and scanning for typos, mistakes, and other assorted boo-boos!
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I read Sid Bernstein's book, "It's Sid Bernstein Calling" three times! Couldn't put it down each time. Incredibly touching story about family, love, humble beginnings, music and so much more. By far the greatest takeaway is about a man who believed in and had endless hope for humanity. Ought to be required reading for all especially in such cynical times.
I was listening to a jazz trio in Brooklyn this afternoon and started talking to the drummer after his set was finished. He told me about this article which I was happy to have found. My father was Sid Bernstein and yes, he loved talking about his book, but also food and music. As a kid I don’t remember him talking so much about the shows he produced. He was a very modest person, humbled by his experience stationed in France during WWII. I learned more about my father’s professional career after he passed on August 21, 2013 at the age of 95. I was born in 1973 and missed much of the excitement of the shows in the ‘60s. As for Brian Epstein, my father adored him and they planned the Carnegie Hall show way in advance of Ed Sullivan ever knowing about the Beatles. Ed was a good friend of my father and asked if he could put them on his show before they played at Carnegie. My father never said no to anyone. He also let Ed be the MC for the Shea event. My father introduces Ed and then Ed introduces the Beatles. One thing I learned after my father’s passing was that Ed was hired and paid by Brian to do the recording of those shows. My father was not aware of this side deal. That footage has been re-purposed over the years in many anthologies, Ron Howard’s documentary, etc. My father never received a dime for any of the commercialization of that footage, even though it was his show. Not sure why he never made a fuss about it when it started popping up in the 90’s, but probably because he was not the kind of guy to ever make a fuss. So he let a lot of things like that go. Most frustrating was when Apple Corps took his name of the iconic Beatles at Shea poster and sold the poster on t-shirts, lamp shades and everything else they put it on. So to respond to Will’s comment on why he never talked about Brian or Ed Sullivan, perhaps its because he might have felt taken advantage by them. He never spoke ill of them or anyone for that matter, that wasn’t his style. But to set the record straight, Ed had nothing to do with bringing the Beatles to America. That was my father hounding down Brian for a long time before he agreed to do Carnegie Hall. It’s in his book which is a great read for Rock n Roll history buffs. It’s on Amazon and the title is, It’s Sid Bernstein calling. As I am writing this I am looking at the original ‘61 Music at Newport poster and to the left is another poster. From top to bottom the other poster reads… Sid Bernstein Presents… Herman’s Hermits June 12, The Dave Clark 5 June 18, The Kinks and the Moody Blues June 19, The Beatles at Shea Stadium August 15, and at the very bottom it says… The First New York Folk Festival with 60 of the Nation’s Top Folk Artists, including, Phil Ochs, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash & Buffy St Marie, Muddy Waters, Dave von Ronk, Bob Gibson, Mississippi John Hurt, 4 Days: June 17 thru June 20th at Carnegie Hall.
How great it must have been to see concerts in the 1960s. My father saw the worst of humanity during WWII. He was a dreamer motivated to bring peace and love to the world by organizing concerts. This was his simple goal. He was a great promoter, but nothing compares to who he was as a friend, father and husband. He gave everyone his time and mentored artists intil he was 93 years old. Here is a link to a great article about two other obscure and forgotten concerts that he produced…. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/remembering-sid-bernstein-beatles-booker-613714/