Jazz critic Leonard Feather once said that when the Newport Jazz Festival debuted in 1954 in Newport, Rhode Island, it initiated the "festival era" in American music. Though there had been other jazz festivals in Europe, the Newport Jazz Festival, and the Newport Folk Festival which began a few years later, did indeed popularize a new style of concert-giving, creating a music-filled community for several days of performances. In the process, the festivals made live music accessible to a large number of people and gave a huge promotional boost to two of the most truly American forms of music, jazz and folk.

In July 1954, musician and impresario George Wein organized and presented the first Newport Jazz Festival in the beautiful Rhode Island seaside town of Newport. The festival became famous for showcasing jazz greats such as Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonius...