QUICK TAKES - April 18, 2009
The Newport folk and jazz festivals lost their corporate sponsorship when JVC, the electronics company, pulled out after running into financial troubles, but organizers have lined up a stellar roster of performers this year anyway.
Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, who played the first Newport festival in 1959, are scheduled to perform. Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie also are on the bill, along with more contemporary acts such as the Decemberists and Iron and Wine.
The jazz festival, meanwhile, will feature singers Tony Bennett and Etta James, saxophonist Branford Marsalis and the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
The folk festival, which this year is formally known as George Wein’s Folk Festival 50 in tribute to its 83-year-old founder, is scheduled for July 31 to Aug. 2. And George Wein’s Jazz Festival 55 is scheduled for the following weekend. Both events will take place at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, R.I.
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Associated Press