VOA标准英语2010年-The Man Who Introduced Music Festivals

George Wein changed the way Americans experience their music.

The pioneering jazz musician and music producer launched the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954. It was the first big outdoor music event of its kind and has spawned¹ a host of other groundbreaking musical venues² since then.

A taste for jazz

On a picture-perfect summer day in Newport, Rhode Island, there's a clear blue sky, a gentle breeze from the harbor, and crowds sitting under white tents or stretched out on the grass.

 

They're attending the annual celebration that put this city on the world map: the 2010 Newport Jazz Festival.

The man who started it all, 84-year-old George Wein, settles in at the piano with his back-up band, the Newport All-Stars.

At 84, George Wein still loves to perform.

Wein started piano lessons when he was eight years old. By the time he was a teenager, he had developed a taste — and a talent — for jazz.

Raised in a Boston suburb, he had a chance to see the great dance and swing bands of the '30s and '40s — Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller³ and Count Basie.

After a stint⁴ in the army, Wein went to Boston University, and took courses to prepare for a career in medicine, out of respect for his father, who was doctor. But he played music at local clubs seven nights a week and Sunday afternoons all during college.

A few months after he graduated, Wein opened his own jazz club.

'It all started in Newport'

That was in 1950.

It wasn't long before Wein became a respected jazz musician and producer.

A regular at the club introduced Wein to a wealthy couple from Newport, Rhode Island. 

Elaine and Louis Lorillard complained that Newport — an exclusive seaside resort famous for its mansions⁵ — was boring in the summer. The couple gave Wein $20,000 and the freedom to create a jazz event there.

Wein says that event changed the culture of music.

"1954 was first outdoor music event of its kind and it was the Newport Jazz Festival. There had been classical festivals. And there had a been a few things that were called festivals," he says. "But not big outdoor events for thousands of people. And that was the foreground for everything like Woodstock and all the different festivals that have come after it. Not just jazz. It all started at Newport."

Making things happen

Wein didn't have plan for his life.

He just enjoys making things happen, and he followed his instincts.

"Because you're always thinking, you become an organizer. When I was a kid and I wanted to play baseball, I called up nine kids to create a baseball team. If I wanted a band, I called up all the kids who could play. I just had that in me. That was what I did. So it wasn't that I decided⁶ I wanted to do a festival, or I wanted to have a nightclub or I wanted to be a musician. I just did it as it happened."

Other festivals happened as well. Wein created the Newport Folk Festival in 1959.

Many say that event — featuring artists like the Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger and Joan Baez — helped spark the folk music revival⁷ of the 1960s.

George Wein, with a fan, at the 2010 Newport Jazz Festival

Dynamic mix

At the 2010 Newport Folk Festival, George Wein's dynamic mix of artists is evident.

There are masters of traditional American music, like 87-year-old Doc Watson, as well as emerging artists, like Andrew Bird, who draws crowds with his unique style of violin.

Another of Wein's signature events is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which he created 1970. He has produced a two-week-long jazz festival in New York for nearly 40 years, and brought music festivals to Europe and Asia.

Bob Jones, a senior producer who began working with the festivals in 1963, says there's much more to Wein than his skills as a music promoter and producer.

"He's very funny, he can be very funny at times," says Jones. "And he's a wonderful musician and that's a big asset, because he understands what it is to sit in front of a crowd and play and entertain."

Wein has provided decades of work for musicians, delivered tourism dollars to cities around the world and brought music to the people.

But most of all, George Wein just loves to entertain.
 

1 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

2 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

3 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

4 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。

5 mansions   

n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑，空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗，钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊，那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。