Kool Jazz Festival
Artist
LeRoy Neiman
United States, 1921 - 2012
Date1981
MediumOffset Lithograph
Dimensions25 3/4 x 18 in. (65.4 x 45.7 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of the LeRoy Neiman and Jane Byrne Neiman Foundation
Object numberPH.6488
DescriptionIn 1981, the Newport Jazz Festival was renamed in honor of its main sponsor, Kool cigarettes. It still held concerts throughout the New York area, from Hempstead to Saratoga Springs, but no longer in Newport, Rhode Island. This was not the first time Kool had associated itself with jazz; starting in 1975, it held Kool Jazz concerts, targeting young, Black, male audiences in order to forge positive connections between entertainment and the brand. By the 1980s, 90 percent of the attendees of these events were Black. Kool would continue sponsoring the series until 1985. While not explicitly named, the figure in LeRoy Neiman’s explosive and upbeat design bears a striking resemblance to American trumpeter Louis Armstrong, who had died a decade earlier. On View
Not on view
