Jazz pianist, former Boston club owner and visionary impresario, George Wein created the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 and presided over the annual summer bash in Rhode Island until 1971, at which point he moved the whole operation to New York City for another extended run. Beginning in the early years with such iconic artists as Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins and Woody Herman and featuring such perennial visitors as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Erroll Garner, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck, a veritable Who's Who in Jazz has appeared at the festival since its inception.