“Some Great Sounds in the Big Apple” (Newport Jazz Festival, 1972)
In 1972, the Newport Jazz Festival moved from Newport, Rhode Island, to New York City. “Big Apple” had been a popular jazz nickname for New York City since the 1930s, when a “Big Apple” restaurant/nightclub opened in Harlem.
“Some Great Sounds in the Big Apple” was the theme of the 1972 Newport Jazz Festival in New York City. The symbol of the 19th annual Newport Jazz festival was an apple over the New York City skyline (showing the World Trade Center).
Wikipedia: Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hired George Wein to organize the first festival and bring jazz to Rhode Island.
Most of the early festivals were broadcast on Voice of America radio, and many performances were recorded and released as albums. In 1972, the Newport Jazz Festival was moved to New York City. In 1981, it became a two-site festival when it was returned to Newport while continuing in New York. From 1984 to 2008, the festival was known as the JVC Jazz Festival; in the economic downturn of 2009, JVC ceased its support of the festival and was replaced by CareFusion.
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Moving to New York City
In 1972, festival producer George Wein transplanted the festival to New York City, calling it the Newport Jazz Festival-New York. An expanded format involved multiple venues, including Yankee Stadium and Radio City Music Hall, and comprised 30 concerts with 62 performers including Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Roberta Flack, and Dizzy Gillespie. This format continued for the next years, but Wein missed the outdoors of Newport which the venues of New York City failed to duplicate.
Newspapers.com
23 June 1972, Philadelphia (PA) Daily News, “The Apple Is Where The Music s” by Nels Nelson, pg. 3F, col. 1:
(An apple is shown on the New York City skyline, showing the World Trade Center.—ed.)
See that fat apple hanging on the New York skyline?
That fat apple is the symbol of the 19th annual Newport Jazz Festival, this year and perhaps forever trailing the appendage, “—New York.” That fat apple is emblazoned on all of George Wein’s advertising literature and it is appliqued on his money belt.
An early American statesman—was it Herbie Hancock, the knavish nephew of John? was it Aretha Franklin, the great-grandniece, twice removed, of Ben?—once said, “That fat apple could be rising or it could be setting, but I believe it is rising because who ever heard of an apple setting?”
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The Apple, my friends, is where the music is.
Newspapers.com
25 June 1972, The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), “‘The Big Apple’ with a Bet” by Bill Morrison, pg. 2-V, col. 1:
NEW YORK—The city has a new image— a black silhouette of the Manhattan skyline dominated by a a photograph of a huge, red apple. This is the symbol of the Newport Jazz Festival, which this year will span nine days (July 1-9) and will take place all over New York in such diverse settings as Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall (midnight jam sessions), and the Staten Island Ferry, in churches and at Yankee Stadium.
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The big apple is glowing over the ebony skyline—a fitting symbol for a city that has rediscovered jazz, a city that last week opened it own jazz museum at 125 W. 55th St.
Newspapers.com
25 June 1972, The Journal-News (Nyack, NY), pg. 1E, col. 3:
(A big apple is shown over the Manhattan skyline, showing the World Trade Center.—ed.)
The Big Apple
The Newport Jazz Festival comes to the Big Apple Saturday, bringing with it something for just about everybody.
In a full week of concerts, seminars and jam sessions, the festival will present such greats as Count Basie, Stan Getz, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Roberta Flack, Dizzie Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Sarah Vaughn and just about every other great name in jazz.
Newspapers.com
1 July 1972, Newsday (Hempstead, NY), “All Around Town—Just Jazz” by Beverly Wettenstein, pg. 3A, col. 1:
“Some Great Sounds in the Big Apple.” That’s the theme of the first Newport Jazz Festival in New York, today through next Sunday.
Everyone who has had a taste of the Big Apple knows that it isn’t always delicious—and sometimes it can be downright rotten. But George Wein, 46-year-old founder and promoter of the 19th annual Newport Jazz Festival believes the big city setting will be a challenge the 600 performers and thousands of fans can meet head-on. Not physically, of course, because that’s the reason the festival pulled up its Newport roots and transported itself in New York this year.