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Ellington Brings Festival To Rip-Roaring Windup While Fans Shout, ‘More’By JAMES T. KACLL JR.The ihird annual Newport Jazz Festival', passed into history-at. 1 a. m. yesterday with an enthusiastic crowd of diehards still screaming. More, moreThe windup Saturday night sawanother lO.OOO’-phis attendance, equalling and perhaps surpassing the jam at Freebody Park on Friday night Counting the cut-down crowd during Thursday's . rainy program and the gates’' at the afternoon forum and concert sessions. the overall attendance for the festival was close to 27,000.Orderly madness reigned as the midnight hour passed at Freebody, with puke Ellington and his big band scoring a smash hit. While Paul Gor.slsves of Pawtucket was wailing away on a long blues number, the audience suddenly l£t loose with pent-up emotions.Almost everyone stood up on seats' There was general dancing n the aisles and on the uppermost levels of the concrete staclium. The crowd forced it way down near the stage, where roars ' of delight greeted every offering by the Ellington band.By that hour, a good half of the audience had left the park, but those remaining were young enthusiasts who would willingly have stayed all night The Dulce: declined Producer George Wein’s nervous invitation to call it quits. Instead, he presented drummer: Sam Woodyard in a rip-roaring finale which ended at 12:53 a. m. The field lights had long since been turned on. casting a glare through the chilly fog that had. crept over the park. With a final Hope to see you all next year! Ellington swung the band into its closing Mood Indigo” theme and the 135S festival ended.Setting new records for any spector events in Newport, the final night had been an exciting one. Musically, it was perhaps tops for the three-night bill, with a tremendous critical s u ccess chalked up by Ellington and by the Teddy Wilson trio.The crowd was- a much more lively one, to say -the least. Among the 10,000 fans (equal to one-quarter of the population of Newport), there,were perhaps 50 who chose to make a nuisance of themselves. About a dozen of those became police problems, including an out-of-town trio involved in a stabbing that could be blamed • on drink, rather than an anything connected with jazz music.Outside the gate, a crowd of late comers clamored for admission, but there vtere no more seats to be sold. At or.p point, a group of. young hoodlums threatened to storm the wickets, but they were dispersed. Two firecrackers were set off. outside with a loud bang.For .the most part, the frenzywas an exuberance of spirits that harmed no one, as young jaz2-lov-ers bounced in*, their‘scats Exhorted performers onward with cries of Go, go It was by far the., liveliest scene of any of th*y annual festivals, with the uproar at tha end even topping the excitement during the impromptu jam sessions at the Casino in 1954.After the ball' was over, Newport and the surrounding towns continued to. throb as the patrons dispersed or sought entertainment in night spots, some of which stayed open until 4 a. m.The* Jamestown Ferry Yan until 2:3G*a. m. cleaning up stragglers. It had'still been disgorging festival-bound passengers as late’ as 9 p. m. Saturday.Throughout' the city, restaurants, hotels and lodging houses were swamped Friday and Saturday. In fact, some jazz fans had spent Thursday or Friday night sleeping in the city police station, out in Middletown at St Colum*-ba's Cemetery or in cars at beaches and on side streets.Traffic on ir-land highways was extremely heavy, as an estimated 4,000 cars sped patrons to and from the festival. Parking on Saturday night was again a problem near Freebody Park.No one earned more credit than the police department, which had a score of patrolmen on duty inside and outside the field for three long nights. Traffic control was well-handled and the rush inside the park was better directed than in the festival's two previous years. •Firemen were also on duty at the park all three nights, helping to keep the aisles clear and stand- • ing by with Engine 5, which was in place at the northeast corner of the field at all times.The big-league event got underway exactly at S:30 p. m.r with(Continued on Page14)
Newspaper Details
Newport Daily News
Newport, Rhode Island, US
Mon, Jul 09, 1956
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Eric H.
NJ, USA 22 Mar 2017
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