George Wein's most important contribution to jazz was his work organizing and booking festivals including Newport Jazz Festival (which he helped found in 1954), and for opening his own Storyville club in the 1950s. However, Wein was also a fine Earl Hines-inspired pianist (and an occasional vocalist), quite comfortable in swing- and Dixieland-oriented settings. On an irregular basis since the 1950s he toured and recorded with his Newport All-Stars, who have included cornetist Ruby Braff, clarinetist Pee Wee Russell, and tenorman Bud Freeman, and later, Scott Hamilton on tenor and cornetist Warren Vache. George Wein died on September 13, 2021 in New York City; he was 95 years old. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi