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Show Tirippsiii M Klewport Festival dusty ramps, wishing for one last sound of the moving drums of Rich, but they didn't come, only the harsh voices of the Cops telling tell-ing you to move along move along groove along . . . The next morning, on (he Kerry going across Naragansett SounH we talked about the music, and our selves, and what a "soul" exoer ience the festival had been untii some "religionist" and his wife of fered us pamphlets on God and the Saving Power of Jesus. away. So I grabbed my green book bag crammed it full of unpressed shirts and socks a towel just in case I got a chance to shower and blasted off via the turnpike with a thumb waving for Newport. Rides were plentiful so I arrived ar-rived in the Island City in 2 hours with girls looking like they were looking and boys looking for the looking girls. The green was filled with kids catching a few winks after a hard night at Friday's installation in-stallation of the weeklong festival. Presently the cops came along and shooed the loiters off the grass. When the fuzz left, the grass again filled up with tired jazz lovers. Inhibitions went the way of the wind it wasn't unusual to see girls changing clothes in cars or boys making fast trips to the bushes for natural purposes. At the arena kids braved the cold night air by sharing body heat from a "looker" who had looked and found downtown. down-town. Lute Players There were lute players, who couldn't afford the three dollar gen- By RON SCOTT Chronicle Associate Editor The fog rolled in to chill the kids who were curled up in blankets, old coats, and sleeping bags on the beaches, in fields, under bushes, and on the Newport town green. The next morning these same kids awoke, brushed their snarled hair aside and made their way by foot, bike and car to the Newport Arena for the Saturday show of the annual an-nual Newport Jazz Festival, grand-daddy grand-daddy of all the festivals. The origin of most of the kids at the Festival was New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland and smatterings from all the other Eastern Seaboard states. For this "festival of stars" they threw away their tuxes and formal gowns, grew beards, dawned everything ev-erything from cut-off Levis to grass skirts, chucked their shoes and toughened up the soles of their feet for the weekend event. Revelation Newport 'Saturday morning I was sitting around my apartment in New Ha- -ven without a thing to do and without with-out a way to go anywhere if there was anything to do. Revelation hitchhike to Newport, only 90 miles eral admission, who sat in the long dewey grass that surrounds the arena giving "mini-concerts" to those, who without money had come to Newport for the warm spirit that is so much a part of the Festival Season. Local Townies with their windows win-dows and minds boarded up recalling recall-ing the riots of former years, shook disgusting fingers at the festival goers for their long haircuts and sloppy dress. I couldn't get a ticket I got there too late. But with a few kind words to a "festival guard" I was in free for what was to become one of the most pleasant "freak outs" I'm sure I'll ever experience. The fog in the air gave the music a kind of eerie tone. It floated right into the center most part of your mind and then suddenly yea groovie man this was really it this was the music as it was this was the atmosphere, and now was the time groove with the best groovers in the country. Musical Trance By one o'clock the kids were in a musical trance kids were screaming "more more more" just like a jazz fix had been directly direct-ly induced to a main vein during the past four hours. When Buddy Rich finished up the concert with his arrangement of West Side Story the "groovies" came falling apart they stood on their seats and yelled and clapped for what seemed like hours until the "trip stopping" Festival Chairman said the program had to be over by one a.m. or face a stiff fine It was 1:20 but it was a fine fine. So we drifted as one down the |