NEW YORK (AP) — George Wein, one of the great impresarios of 20th-century music who helped found the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals and set the template for gatherings everywhere from Woodstock to the south of France, has died at 95. A family spokesperson says Wein died “peacefully in his sleep” Monday in his New York City apartment. A former jazz club owner and aspiring pianist, Wein launched the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 with a lineup for the heavens: Billie Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lester Young. Wein led the festival for more than 50 years.
Hillel Italie for the Associated Press
