- He began his career as a jazz pianist. He founded his first jazz band when he was in high school, and played piano in clubs while attending Boston University.
- He organized the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, the Newport Folk Festival in 1959, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and dozens of others across Europe, Asia and North America. By the 1980s, he was producing more than 50 major events a year, making him the world's leading jazz promoter.
- His surname is pronounced Ween.
- He served in an Army engineering unit in Europe during WWII.
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