Newport Jazz Festival Photo Archive 1966 & 1967: 1260 Photos--35mm Negatives

Newport Jazz Festival Photo Archive 1966 & 1967--1260 Photos, Newport, Rhode Island

Newport Jazz Festival is an annual multi-day jazz music festival held in Newport, Rhode Island, beginning with the first festival in 1954. Throughout the years, Newport hosted many great jazz musicians, some returning year after year.

Collection includes 1260 Photos (35mm negatives) and features mostly "concert" images although there are some backstage scenes, informal posed shots and views of the audience.

Concert images capture the intensity and joy of these monsters of jazz. While we have not identified the photographer(s), they clearly were good and had access to the stage and the musicians at various venues. Many close-up photographs show the intensity and concentration of the musicians with their bandmates. You can almost feel the music through imagery.

The line-up for 1966 included: Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Jimmy Smith Trio, Archie Shepp Quartet, John Coltrane, Charlie Byrd, Nina Simone, Stan Getz, Thelonious Monk. Zoot Sims, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Herbie Mann, Count Basie, Kenny Burrell, Dizzy Gillespie and many more. Tony Bennett made a surprise appearance. An original 1966 Newport Jazz Festival program and September 1966 copy of "Jazz" with a review of Newport is included with the archive.

The 1967 festival saw many stars returning from 1966 plus Buddy Rich, Joe Williams, Earl Hines, Modern Jazz Quartet, Gabor Szabo, Gary Burton, Herbie Mann, Bill Evans, Max Roach, Sarah Vaughn and Wes Montgomery. Lionel Hampton made his first Newport appearance in 1967. Heavy rain marred the weekend.

We scanned 387 images of the 1260 in the archive. These may be viewed at https://andy-nettell.smugmug.com/Newport-Jazz-Festival-1966-and-1967. The images scanned are a cross-section from each roll. I did my best to represent as many different musicians as possible without care for who they were. I also included several of the lower quality views (there are not many--but some photos are underexposed) to provide the best overview as possible without scanning all 1260 images. Please do not ask if a particular musician is present--I did not attempt to identify the musicians. I recognize many of them and jazz aficionados will readily recognize most.

The film containers from 1966 identify most of the musicians/groups while those from 1967 do not. The images in the photo link contain both 1966 and 1967 and are mixed throughout.

Jim Marshall, who some call ' father of modern music photography ' was the official photographer for Newport in 1966. We are fairly certain these are NOT his photos. In fact, several images show a photographer at work, with a larger format camera, which is probably Jim Marshall. Jazz Magazine assigned several photographers to document Newport; possibly this archive is one of theirs? I suspect with a deep dive into the archives, the photographer can be identified. Regardless, this archive is a treasure-trove of amazing images from the premier jazz festival in the country from a vibrant era in jazz. Hundreds of unpublished images from the Newport Jazz Festival.

To be clear--you are purchasing 35mm negative film. We have scanned and digitally converted some of the images into digital positive images but no prints are in this archive.

Archive contains 51 rolls of 35mm film negatives. Stored in rectangular packages which include both 36 exposure and 20 exposure rolls for a total of 1260 images, give or take. Several rolls did not contain the full complement of images. All rolls are supple; no tears or cracks in celluloid. Vast majority of images are clean and clear. Very few with minor scratches. Handled only with gloves. Link provided below will show you scans of 387 of the photos. Please examine carefully for condition. Very Good Condition.

Offered in partnership with De Wolfe & Wood, Alfred, Maine.