New Orlean's 1st International Jazz Festival. Silkscreen poster. 267x532mm; 10½x21 inches. 1968.
The first official Jazz Fest was held in New Orleans in 1970. But the event was conceptualized and held for the first time in 1968, with the name Jazzfest (as a single word), in conjunction with the festivities surrounding New Orleans' 250th birthday. It was the brainchild of a jazz promoter named George Wein (who had produced the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954) and it was held in the city's Municipal Auditorium. The event was held for two years in a row and featured such prominent jazz royalty as Sarah Vaughn, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Pete Fountain and many other luminaires. By 1970 the event had grown larger and more successful and was rebranded New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. This is a rare, previously unrecorded image, from the event's first incarnation. We could locate no other copies.Condition B+: slight foxing in right image; pin holes in corners and at edges. Silkscreen. Printed on thick paper.
